Harold Hinshaw

Harold Clyde Hinshaw, 90, of Columbia passed away Saturday, February 9, 2008.  

Celebration services will begin at 12:30, Sunday, Feb. 17, in McMurray Chapel of the Missouri United Methodist Church at 204 South 9th Street with a holy service of the Masonic Lodge.  Visitation will be at 1 p.m. in the main floor parlor adjacent to the sanctuary.  At 2 p.m., Rev. Jim Bryan will officiate in the sanctuary of the Missouri United Methodist Church.  Burial and military honors will be private.  

Harold Clyde was born August 21, 1917, to Clyde Herbert Hinshaw and Enna Louise Hendrix Hinshaw on a farm in Englewood Missouri, with the help of their neighbors, the Logans.    
 
His great-grandfather Amos Hinshaw as well as his brother Abel navigated up the Missouri River from Ohio after the Civil War.  They initially settled south of Columbia in Claysville but due to frequent flooding resettled on a farm at the base of the Devil’s Backbone on Cedar Creek in Englewood.  

Harold was an incredibly hard worker from an early age.  Starting when he was five, one of his chores was to walk to his grandfather’s house a mile away to run errands such as carrying buckets of milk.  As a child, he amazed others as he broke horses.  Although slight in build, he had incredible physical strength. As a young man, working in his father’s feed store during the depression, he could carry a fifty pound bag of feed in each arm.  At times he drove a truck daily to either St. Louis or Kansas City to the feed mills and developed an uncanny sense of direction.  He never lost his appreciation for hard, physical work, “real work,” he termed it.  Into his sixties he could throw hay bales from the back of a truck unerringly up a story into the side door of a barn. Well into his eighties, cutting firewood, spreading gravel by the shovel full off the back of a dump truck and mowing grass remained some of his favorite pastimes.  

In 1941, immediately after Pearl Harbor, he joined the US Army, serving in the 246th combat engineers.  He joined the service as a relatively old man, at 25, and quickly rose through the ranks to become a Master Sergeant.  He was referred to as “the old man” by the 18-19 year olds and many of the men he served with, looked up to him as the man who kept them safe, and tried to keep them warm and dry during wartime.  In 1942 the Army sent him to help build the Alaskan highway, dropping off engineers in the freezing woods with trucks, saws and tents.  That endeavor left him a bitter opponent of camping and cold weather in general.  His unit followed the D-Day invasion on D+4 and served in the Battle of the Bulge. Like most combat veterans, those were experiences he never did discuss.  At reunions, even fifty years later, they loved and respected him, and his best friend, Sergeant Dascolli.  

When he returned home to Columbia Missouri in 1945, he was eager to become a family man.  He married Vlasta Machala, then a teacher of Physical Education at Stephens College.  He returned to work at his father’s feed store, finished his degree in business at the University of Missouri through the GI Bill, and started a family.  Ultimately, they had seven children and a dozen grandchildren.  

Throughout his life, he remained a small businessman, buying his father’s feed store in the 1950s.  He ultimately went into real estate where he enjoyed his greatest success.  He was an active adult leader in 4-H and the Boy Scouts of America.  He was President of the Downtown Optimist Club in 1971-1972 and a past President of the United Methodist Men at Missouri United Methodist Church.  He served on the boards of The Salvation Army, the Pinnacles Youth Park, and the Boone County Fair Board.  He was an active member of the Gideon’s Camp of Columbia and enjoyed storing Bibles for them.  Hobbies include farming, fishing and square dancing.

He is survived by his children: David Hinshaw and wife Melanie of Santa Monica, California.  Frank Hinshaw and wife Mary of Honolulu, Hawaii.  Paul Hinshaw and wife Chellie, of Columbia.  Peter Hinshaw and wife TyAnn, of Columbia.  Mary Ann Dana and husband Steve of San Antonio, Texas.  Tom Hinshaw and wife Melissa of Chicago, Illinois.  John Hinshaw and significant other, Kerry, of Lebannon, Pennsylvania.  Grandchildren: Margo Hinshaw, John Dana, Paige Hinshaw, Frank “T.K.” Hinshaw, Marlie Hinshaw, Alex Hinshaw, Maggie Hinshaw, Sarah & Samuel Dana, Justin Hinshaw, Garrett Hinshaw, and Vlasta Hinshaw.  Sister: Ruth Lietz.  Dear Cousins: Dorothy Fae Hendrix Sapp, and Opal Hinshaw Fewell.  His constant companion the last two years, his dear friend and nurse, Monica McGeorge.

He was preceded in death by his beloved wife of fifty-four years, Vlasta “Val”, one brother, Frank Hinshaw, and one sister, Ann Hinshaw.  

The family suggests memorials to: The Pinnacles Youth Park, c/o Boone County Extension, 1012 N. Hwy UU, Columbia, MO 65203; Mel West’s P.E.T. Project at 1908 Heriford Road, Columbia, MO 65202; The Salvation Army at 1108 W. Ash Street, Columbia, MO 65203; The Missouri United Methodist Church at 204 S. 9th Street, Columbia, MO 65201; or SERRV International at 500 Main Street, New Windsor, MD 21776.

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