Mark Hengel

Mark Francis Hengel, 91, died Sunday at home in Kansas City after a brief illness.



Hengel was born October 25, 1921, to Albert Henry Hengel and Elsie Staudenmeyer Hengel in Pierre, S.D.



Hengel was preceded in death by his wife, Agnes, who died in September 2012. They had been married 62 years at the time of her death.



A mechanical engineer by profession, Hengel was a railroader, a career which began in 1950 in Danville, Ill., working on the track gang for the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad, which later merged with the Missouri Pacific. He retired in 1986 in St. Louis as head of the mechanical engineering department for the Missouri Pacific Railroad. As an engineer, he designed freight cars of every kind and oversaw their production.



An exceptional craftsman and master mechanic, Hengel frequently amazed his family and friends with his ability to repair motors and build or fix almost anything, skills that would serve him well throughout his years in the armed services during World War II.



The first home that he and Agnes owned was one he built himself. Working evenings, weekends and vacations, it took him two years to finish the three-bedroom home from ground breaking in 1958 to completion in 1960.



Hengel grew up on Wynoka Street in Pierre in a house built by Doan Robinson, a South Dakota historian who conceived of the idea for Mount Rushmore. His father owned and ran the Tony Clothing Co., a men's store, in Pierre. Hengel graduated from Pierre High School in 1939, where he played basketball and football. He also played first base and pitched for Pierre's American Legion state championship teams from 1935-38, winning four gold baseballs.



Hengel was drafted into the Army in 1942 and served in the 379th combat regiment with the 95th Infantry Division. The 95th was assigned at different times to the 12th and Third armies and encountered 151 days of combat during 1944-45 in France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, including the Battle of the Bulge. Hengel was a platoon sergeant, who was responsible for 20 vehicles and their drivers. It was here that his mechanical skills came in handy as managed to help get vehicles running again when many were thought out of commission because of heavy artillery fire.



It was in Saarlautern, Germany, that Hengel and a small group of soldiers had a chance encounter with Maj. Gen. George S. Patton as they took cover near a wall while under artillery attack. "We looked up, and there he was with his driver," Hengel said later. "We gave him a half-baked salute, which you were supposed to do. He acknowledged us, and in the chaos, he and his driver went one way, and we went another."



In a letter dated Oct. 6, 1945, Hengel received notice that he had been awarded a Bronze Star "for meritorious service in connection with military operations from 2 December 1944 to 11 January 1945." However, when he inquired about the award at the time of his discharge, he was informed that there would be a delay in clearing up the details before receiving the battle decoration. He would have none of it. Those who knew him well wouldn't find that surprising. As patient as he could be with inanimate objects such as motors, he had no tolerance for processes and delays of any kind. His worst day was when he had to stand in line or when he got hung up in traffic. He never followed up with the Bronze Star issue and never received the medal. "I wasn't about to wait around for that," he said years later, "and besides, I had no idea what I might have done to earn it anyway."



Hengel's only brother, Robert, was killed in November 1944 in the Pacific when the B-24 in which he was the bombardier was shot down over the Negros Islands.



After being discharged in 1945, Hengel used his military benefits from the G.I. Bill program to re-enroll at the University of Notre Dame, where he had completed one year before the war. He graduated in 1950 with a degree in mechanical engineering. Until he landed a job with the C&EI Railroad, Hengel worked as a heavy equipment mechanic for Creager Bros., in Pierre.



His interest in fixing things followed him throughout his life. Neighbors occasionally gave him what they thought were broken down, useless lawn mowers and other machines for parts, but he nearly always got them to run again, often the same day.



Hengel lost his sight – nearly overnight – to macular degeneration in his early 70s, but it never seemed to bother him. And somehow it did not stop him from pursuing his passion of small-engine repair. He completely dismantled a John Deere tractor mower and rebuilt it using only his "feel" for the parts and pieces and remembering where he had placed parts as he dismantled the machine. When he finished the mower ran like new.



He was a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.



Hengel is survived by five children, Robert of Houston; James of Kansas City; Michael of Las Vegas; Josephine of Columbia and Teresa of St. Louis. A sixth child, Sharon, died in 2007; and eight grandchildren. A sister, Nancy Hengel, died in 1989.