How Do You Solve a Problem Like Hank Mann-Sykes?

Brynn Grimley writes:

I first met Hank Mann-Sykes shortly after I was hired at the Kitsap Sun in April 2006. He claims he was so excited to have a reporter hired to cover Central Kitsap for the Sun that he cried.  (I don’t believe him).

I have to share our first encounter because I believe it sums up Hank’s sense of humor in a nutshell (and he is a nut).

We were to meet at the Silver City Brewery in Silverdale for lunch. On the phone Hank described what he looked like so I wouldn’t miss him: “I’m 5’5” about 200 pounds, bald with horn-rimmed glasses,” he said.

So there I sat, waiting for a short, fat, bald man with glasses, and in walks Hank — looking like none of the above. That’s when I knew: never take anything he says seriously.

Hank has been a wonderful contact for to me; if I had a question I could call him and he had the answer (assuming he answered the phone).

But a few months after we met, Hank started having health problems. I didn’t hear from him for a while, and then every few months he’d check in. I never knew how serious his health problems were because he never wanted to talk about it. (Still doesn’t).

Hank didn’t want his health issues to go into the story I wrote that ran in Sunday’s paper because he doesn’t want people feeling sorry for him. But then he decided if his story can show someone else that they don’t have to act sick just because they are sick, he was willing to share.

I believe, after speaking with Hank, it is his “one day at a time” mentality that has resulted in him proving medicine wrong. That and his desire to help the community. He refuses to focus on being sick, and instead looks at what he can do to continue to be a mover and a shaker in Silverdale.

Just last week his wife of 27 years Loisanne said he had people at the house to discuss the Silverdale Haselwood Family YMCA. He ran out of cell phone minutes for the month because he’s reconnecting with old friends and trying to connect people to find funding for the multi-million dollar YMCA facility, she said.

To write my story on Hank, I received a list of people Hank suggested I call to get some perspective on “Who is Hank Mann-Sykes.” The list grew every day, and while I called many, I didn’t call them all. I also didn’t include everyone’s comments in my story, however their input helped me shape the article. I’d like to provide some of the quotes from those who know Hank here.

Bremerton Mayor Patty Lent and Hank connected first through the Boy Scouts, an organization Hank has been involved in for 20 years (his son Joshua is an Eagle Scout). They then worked together when Lent was county commissioner.

“If there ever was a ‘Man of the Year,’ or a ‘Man of the Century,’ it would be Hank Mann-Sykes,” she said. “He is as solid as a granite rock.”

Carl Johnson, another volunteer and civic leader in Silverdale, has known Hank for years. The two share a deep religious faith and met once a week to study the Bible before Hank’s last trip to the hospital.

“What I’ve discovered about Hank is, you don’t have to wonder what he’s thinking,” Johnson said. “He kind of wears his feelings and his thoughts out there for anyone to see and hear. And certainly I appreciate that about him.”

Johnson, along with everyone else, called Hank an “incredibly giving person.”

“I have a great appreciation and a general love for Hank and I think he has made a difference in our community,” he said.

Natalie Bryson, yet another longtime Silverdale volunteer, has shared a close friendship with Hank since he arrived in Silverdale and wasn’t surprised to learn he had been working on the Silverdale YMCA project from home. She said the drive to benefit his community was the “marrow of his bones.”

“He just did things at the grass roots level and made a huge difference for people in the community,” she said of his volunteerism. “I can’t think of an organization that hasn’t been impacted by his efforts in one way or another.”

There’s one thing Hank hasn’t done for the community that he’d like to see happen before he dies: Silverdale incorporation.

“I’m going to do it if I have the energy,” he said. “If it’s the last dying breath in my body I’m going to call someone and say lets get this freaking thing going.”

Looking at his success record, I wouldn’t be surprised if he does it.