Ladies and Gentlemen take my advice...

Captain Hank Nance set sail from this world on Monday March 17, 2014.  Captain Hank as he is so affectionately known by all who have served with him was probably one of the most fascinating people you would ever meet. 

                I have had the privilege of knowing and working with Hank since I was 17 years old.  I met him in the summer of 2002 during my second season as a First Mate and Conductor with the Rockford Park District Forest City Queen and Trolley Car #36 program.  I believe I actually met Hank and Reggie at the same time.  Hank did not immediately have his Captain’s License so he frequently served as a Motorman on the Trolley or an additional First Mate on the Queen. 

                One of my earliest memories of Hank was working with him on what was called Evening Rides for Trolley Car #36.  On Tuesday and Thursday evenings the Trolley would run between the YMCA and the Symbol just back and forth.  For $2.00 patrons could jump on and off wherever they wanted on this route.  For a 17 year old who love the trolley this was easy money.  This was when I would get my first experience driving the Trolley.  Hank would gladly allow me to drive the trolley under his watchful eye.  As it became clear that I was pretty good at it, he would eventually take over the microphone to help passengers enjoy the ride as well.  Having been riding the Trolley since I was 3 years old this was absolutely a dream come true!  I was driving the trolley!  One night Hank really wanted Vicki to ride the trolley back to the station but her car was at the Green House.  I can tell this story now, but Hank had me drive the Trolley back SOLO with Vicki as a passenger as he drove her car back.  This was the moment I had graduated to a motorman, even if technically I wasn’t old enough yet!  Another night with Hank’s permission I invited my friend Jason to come on the Trolley and play guitar for passengers who chose to ride.   Hank enjoyed having some “folk” music as we rode the rails together. 

                That first summer with Hank I was the only high school aged employee.  So once the college kids left in August, I was pretty much all there was for First Mates or Conductors.  Often times Hank would be the First mate on the boat while I worked the Trolley.  We had a lot of dinner cruises that fall that would end up having Hank and I working together as First Mates.  We were a good team and it was always nice to have him around.  One night with Captain Patrick at the helm, a speed boat came to close and intentionally splashed our dinner cruise passengers.  Our captain and our passengers were mad so Patrick turned the boat around to get the registration numbers off the offending boat.  We found them pulling their boat out at the Riverview Boat launch.  Patrick navigated the boat so Hank could jump off the front of the boat and get the numbers.  The offending boaters did not think this was very cool and having had a few drinks on the river they became verbally abusive and belligerent with Hank and Patrick.  At one time the boater even picked Hank up and menacingly threatened to throw him in the river.  Needless to say Park Police were called.  I remember being angry and offended.  Hank never blinked.  He continued to have that calm demeanor that always served him so well. 

                Hank, Captain Patrick, and I must have been the adventure crew that fall.  On another ride, I invited my family on a pizza  Ski Broncs cruise.  My family including my uncle from California, my grandpa and his wife, my 90 year old great aunt, and my other uncle and aunt were on the boat with about 30 old ladies from a YMCA group.  It was a pretty packed boat.  Hank and I did our best to serve everyone.  The weather had been menacing all day but after looking at the radar right before departure time it looked like we would be all right.  We anchored at Shorewood Park and settled in to enjoy the Ski Broncs performance.   I recall the Ski Broncs team must have gotten one pass in when a giant crack of Thunder shattered the evening.  Nothing happened for a while and Patrick used the bullhorn to ask if they were cancelling their show.  They said yes and we  quickly began pulling up anchors.  For some reason Patrick decided to pull up the bow anchor first.  In the process the prop severed the stern anchor line and we were free.  None too soon as it turned out.  The thunderstorm formed almost directly over us.  The entire route south back to Riverview the sky was dumping buckets of water on us constantly.  This was before the Queen received the upgraded “curtain windows” that now adorn her port and starboard sides.  So there was no time to close the antiquated windows that had previously been on board.  The waves on the Rock River were enormous!  I have never again since seen conditions that horrific.  Thunder, lightning, wind, and waves; it reminded me of the movie the perfect storm.  With 40 people on board including 30 old ladies, my entire family, and my 90 year old aunt.  Patrick was a skilled Captain and you never detected a hint of fear in him or in Hank.  He ordered Hank and I into life jackets and asked the passengers to settle in the middle of the boat.  One option discussed was anchoring under the Whitman street bridge for shelter but as we had lost our stern anchor this was not really an option.  We made it back to Riverview safely, directed the passengers back inside for shelter, and got the boat secured.  Hank and Patrick never once let on that they were ever nervous.  I was personally somewhat alarmed by the whole experience.  We offered free passes to the passengers to make up for their cut short ride.  The passengers loved it!  They thought it was a terrific ride and were laughing the whole way home.  To this day every once in a while a First Mate will get a comment from a passenger who says, “I rode this boat a number of years ago and boy was it the biggest storm I ever did see!” 

                That first year with Hank also saw me and him running the Trolley as a shuttle in October for the Head of the Rock Regatta.  That was a lot of fun as crew teams lined the tracks.  We had a bit of trouble navigating the trolley up and down Madison Street amongst all the boat trailers but we had a lot of fun.  I’m fairly certain that was the coldest and latest in the season I’ve ever run the trolley. 

                Hank eventually got his Captain’s license and graduated from the ranks of being a First Mate to being in charge of the Queen.  The relationship between a Captain and a First Mate or a Motorman and a Conductor is hard to explain if you’ve never experienced it.  Often times the Captain or Motorman is significantly older than the typical high school or college student that serves as a First Mate or conductor.  The two typically spend 5-8 hours together giving 45 minute rides to strangers who come and go.  It’s not like other jobs where you can walk away from each other.  You are literally right next to each other on the boat or the trolley in a confined space.  Those of us who have served in our younger years are blessed to have had such great captains to serve with.  Whether it was Hank or Reggie you were guaranteed to have a good day.  Each Captain does things ever so differently than the other and you quickly learn to adapt.  If you’re smart though you will quickly learn to listen to the life experiences they choose to share. 

                Boy did Captain Hank have life experiences!  His obituary I believe only begins to scratch the surface of how much of an adventure he and Vicki have had together.  The other thing that was unique about the working relationship was that we worked together for 12 years.  Hank knew me as an awkward 17 year old First Mate.  He saw me leave for College and come back happily every summer.  He saw me graduate from College and begin my career in Ministry.  He got to live through my time as a sometimes overconfident Assistant Manager at the Trolley Station.  He saw me come home to the Trolley with a special lady friend.  He saw me come home less and less often with my wife.  Captain Hank has been a part of my life for all the important things.  It didn’t matter how long the winter was, jumping back on the Boat or the Trolley always felt like picking things up where you had last left off. 

                Captain Hank loved life.  He loved people.  As I was going through my formational changes, he was always eager to hear about them and the enthusiasm he had for what was going on in your life made you feel like the most important person in the world.  He loved helping other people ENJOY LIFE as was the Park District’s mission statement.  Whether it be letting kids or kids at heart drive the boat, there was nothing Hank wouldn’t do to help people have a good time.  He loved the boat and the trolley.  He loved the Park District.  He loved whoever he was talking too. 

For the last 7 years he has been battling cancer.  Just from looking you would never have been able to tell.  Hank maintained his busyness on the Queen and his upbeat attitude only continued to be upbeat.  I never heard him complain about the cards he had been dealt and he was perpetually optimistic about his condition and about where life was going.  Truly an example of how to live life to the fullest. 

I may not have been related to Captain Hank but he was always a supportive influence in your life that you felt would always be there.  The last time I had the pleasure to work with him was Labor Day Weekend 2012.  I came home to help work the Forest City Queen Water Taxi for On the Waterfront.  I always liked doing things on the boat or the trolley that were “out of the normal” routine.  I worked all day Saturday and then Sunday half the day with Captain Hank.  It was just me and him much like the old days on the Trolley.  He was very excited to hear about how things were going for me working at a small Liberal Arts College much as he had done most of his “real” career.  He also allowed me to drive the boat for most of the evening which was much more enjoyable for me after 12 years of doing the narrative.  We docked the boat at Beatie Park half way through the day for the next crew to take over for the remainder of the evening.  It was strange for me to walk away from the Queen still running as you usually worked until it was time to lock her up for the night. 

                As Captain Hank and I were walking across the Jefferson Street Bridge back to the Trolley Station, I looked back at the Forest City Queen with it’s navigational lights on and getting ready to set sail once again.  I remember thinking it was appropriate that this was probably the last time I would work on the Queen that she was still running without me.  The Queen continues to rule the Rock River event though my time on board has come to a near end.  If I had known that walk across the bridge would be the last time I would see Captain Hank, I ‘m not sure how I would react.  So as I look back at the wonderful experience it has been to be a member of the Forest City Queen staff, I see the Forest City Queen still sailing.  She sails on and on without one of her favorite captains of all time.  The Queen will still sail.  Future generations will ride the boat and the trolley and may never know who we are.  But the Park District, the Queen, the city of Rockford, and the world are better places for Captain Hank having been a part of them.  Ultimately I am a better person for having known such a kind, caring, and enthusiastic man.