After more than 50 years Hank Bakken, one of King County's most popular homebuilders hung up his hammer and saw.

He and his wife Jean now content themselves with just puttering and gardening. He can't tell you off hand how many homes he built but figures it upwards of 200. Most were in Highline and West Seattle and include a $6 million mansion on Lake Washington.

Hank was a fighter pilot flying a P-47 based in England and took part in the landing at Normandy in the liberation of Europe

He and Jean have three children who all went to Highline High and the family home is still within walking distance of historic Sunnydale Elementary. Son Tom, now an executive for a federal agency, was a star athlete and still holds the school high jump record.

Daughter Joanne is head cook at Beverly Park Elementary on Glendale and daughter Carol is a homemaker living near Newcastle.

Hank got through his war experience without a scratch while flying 80 missions. He was never shot down but came back to his base with plenty of bullet holes in his plane. He had his closest brush with disaster after the war when he was building a deck on a two-story house. He stepped backward and fell 12 feet into a hole left open for the staircase and landed on a pile of scrap lumber.

Aside from shock he lucked out with only a hairline fracture of his hip. He was back on the job the next day with nothing more than an aching back.

Elsbeth and I met Hank in 1980 when we were looking for a contractor to build our house. He came most highly recommended by the staff at the former Logan lumber company.

He is 86 and still an affable raconteur with a storehouse of entertaining stories.

Jerry is still snapping photos all around the area, so watch out if you don't want your picture in the paper. He can be reached at publisher@robinsonnews.com