Member Profile: Glendora & Don Hange

Don & Glendora Hange faithfully attend services with their son, Don, Jr., always sitting on the pulpit side, half-way down the aisle. Don, Sr. joined the church on April 14, 1946, making him our longest continuous member.

Don met Glendora at the Broad Street Standard Drug Store where she worked part-time while also attending Elyria High School. He used to help clean up and remembers tossing a mop rag to her, which she pitched right back at him! They were married on August 7, 1954.

Don attended college by co-op with The General Motors Institute in Detroit. He worried about finishing his degree because he had to register for the draft. Don earned a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering and was called up with the U.S. Army assigning him to the Frankfurt Arsenal in Philadelphia before he finished basic training.

Glendora’s family moved to Elyria after her father obtained an electrician’s license. While in high school, Glendora moved from the drugstore to the credit union and then to Western Automatic. Shortly before graduation, she was called to the Principal’s office. She wondered what she had done wrong but learned that because of her height, she had been chosen to lead the commencement march!

The church in which Glendora was raised disbanded and lost its membership records. However, Glendora’s mother had pictures of Glendora’s baptism in a very cold river. Glendora joined WACC on January 8, 1956. Glendora spent many years on the Hospitality Committee and recalls helping to prepare a welcome luncheon for Rev. Janet Long.

Don plays the trumpet and was active in the local Patriots Band and also performed at WACC with other musical church members. The Hanges have a motor home and have visited most of the states, including Arizona during the 12 years Don, Jr. lived there, and California to visit their son, Craig.