Thomas “Hinch” Hinchberger

Thomas “Hinch” Hinchberger, 65, formerly of Butler, shed his Earthly bounds, Calypso style, on Saturday, Jan. 28.

He was surrounded by the love of his two marvelous daughters, Ila, of Savannah, Ga., and Sarah (Taylor), of Palm Harbor, Fla., along with his grandchildren, Hendrix, Marley and Dylan. Don't challenge the obvious in the name selections.

A 1969 graduate of Butler High School, Hinch's family was spread all over the country. He was the son of Arthur and Ann Hinchberger. Bub and Lou are his brothers. His sisters are Mary Clouse, Eletta Burris and Paula Hinchberger. There are also many cousins, aunts and uncles.

Tom's trip was not a point A to point B journey. Chaos theorists would be baffled by the twists and turns his life took. After a shot at college, Tom became a master carpenter and building tradesman. He helped many people get into the construction business. His work lives on in many locales.

Tom also was a sailor and worked on the Great Lakes. He was a transporter of the “goodies” at times when they were most needed. His post-Whippo Hill, Butler High School travels, took him from Cape Cod, to Philadelphia, to Europe, to New Zealand, to Chicago, to Los Angeles, to Alabama to Puerto Rico, to Florida and finally to Savannah, Ga.

Hinch lived for 15 years in Ypsilanti, Mich., where he has many friends and where stories abound.

As Jimmy Buffet would say, “Made enough money to buy Miami but he spent it away so fast, Never meant to last, never meant to last.”

Life has a strange scorecard. Religions score it good deeds minus sins to equal the hereafter, but that is far too simple. The impact that one person has on the lives of others is the more accurate measure. Hinch had a great impact, good and some bad, on numerous lives. Recent events have made many feel that the accumulation of money and power for their own sake are the measure of success. This is not even close to reality. The obtaining of true wealth is much more simple and more complex.

Ila and Sarah, his daughters, are both highly educated college graduates. Ila is a health care professional at Savannah's leading medical center, and Sarah is an international human resources professional. These young women are the priceless jewels in the Hinch crown. They are truly amazing. There is no way to describe their love, patience and understanding. Hinch was not easy to satisfy and was a demanding old fart. His girls took it all in stride and showed their love and caring every day. Sarah's husband, David Taylor, and Ila's fiancé, Brent Burroughs, were most supportive through the entire trying period.

This is his legacy. He leaves humanity with two positive forces. They, along with his three grandchildren, were his pride and joy. They will grow up hearing wild and crazy stories about their grandfather.

During his life at “Club Photo” in Ypsilanti, he was quick to give food and shelter to wandering sailors, friends and strangers. The house was always full of friends, life, weird art, artifacts and the comforts of home. On first visit, his dog, Lucy, a Bouvier des Flanders, would greet you in full attack mode with the most ferocious bark, growl and show of teeth. Subsequent visits were met with a tail wag and a nuzzle. She always remembered a friendly soul and knew when a treat was coming from Harold, Hinch's best and long time neighbor.

During the winter, Friday nights were set aside for volleyball at local gyms. All arranged for by “Big Daddy” Hinch. Heaven help those who did not show up. Euchre, a strange mid-west card game perversion of 500, tournaments were a regular activity. Holidays were party time, and most holiday parties lasted far beyond the calendar date. Many were epic, Louis XIV style without the chintz.

Alas, troubles come in waves. Hinch's came on a Bay of Fundy tides. If you knew him, you know the stories. Many people stepped forth to help. Hinch was not given to graciously accepting advise or assistance. In 1992, he sold it all and began a weird and wonderful journey. Riches to rags and rags to riches. We are all on a train ride. Hinch's could be summed up by Bruce Springsteen, “This train carries saints and sinners, This train carries losers and winners, This train carries whores and gamblers, This train carries lost souls, This train carries the broken hearted, This train carries thieves and sweet souls departed.”

Hinch never had “real life” heroes. He saw the most popular ones as contrived. Instead he admired the larger and stranger lives of Errol Flynn as Captain Blood, the characters from “My Blue Heaven,” “Major League,” “Scarface,” “African Queen,” “Midnight Run,” “Caddyshack” and oddly enough, Cary Grant in “Father Goose.”

Hinch grabbed his ticket and suitcase and never stopped until poor health forced him. Through the North and South and the Caribbean, he left a trail of laughter and ludicrous behavior. Much like the pirates of a long-gone era combined with characters from Jay and Silent Bob movies.

So, we say goodbye to a saint and scoundrel, a unique person never to be duplicated or cloned. To sum it up, thanks to Chuck Berry via George Thorogood, “I met a German girl in England who was going to school in France. Said we danced in Mississippi at an Alpha Kappa dance. It wasn't me. No, no, officer it wasn't me. It must have been some other body. No, no, officer it wasn't me.”

Bruce Springsteen's “Terry's Song” sums Hinch up. Give it a listen.

HINCHBERGER — A celebration of life for Thomas “Hinch” Hinchberger, who died Saturday Jan. 28, 2017, will be conducted this summer in Butler and Auckland over a long weekend.Not enough can be said for the final care Tom received at the Hospice Savannah, South. Support your local hospice. They do incredible things at the most difficult times.