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A Happy Hundred: Muskegon man celebrates his Centennial Birthday

Edwin Hansen has lived on the same road for his whole life.

MUSKEGON, Mich. — If you've driven on Shettler Road in Muskegon any time since 1921, you've passed the home of Edwin Hansen. Saturday friends and family gathered to celebrate Ed as he turned 100 years old.

"You have to try to not be greedy," he says, giving advice on how he made it to triple digits. 

Hansen has worn many hats in his day. Between his time as a Marine, the family poultry farm, commercial real estate, opening ice cream stores, and serving as a founding member of Pioneer Resources, Ed was a busy man. He was working into his mid nineties, only stopping a few years ago. 

He says a true friend is someone you can count on your hand with fingers to spare, but he's got thousands of acquaintances. 

"“I’ve never met anyone I didn’t like. I may not agree with their opinion," Hansen says. "but everyone is wonderful.”

He says being able to see the good in people is another key to long lasting happiness.

 “There is not one person that I know in this country of 300 million that doesn’t have perfect, and some faults.”

But if you ask what the biggest part has been, it's the woman by his side. Hansen and his wife, Rachel celebrated their 75th anniversary last year, and because the pandemic canceled the party, his family threw him a parade.

Young at heart, he says he's already looking forward to the next birthday party.

"I’m counting on my hundred and one now, I figure I might hit 101, and I’m looking at the possibility of 102.”

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