'A real inspiration' at 100
<p>LeRoy Hensyel takes a taste of frosting from his birthday cake as his daughter, Judy Mestrovich, looks on Tuesday during a celebration with friends and family on his 100th birthday.</p>
HAYDEN - The question was one asked of him often Tuesday, only in some variations.
How did you live to be 100?
What's the secret to making it to 100?
Each time he was asked, LeRoy Monroe Hensyel answered the same way.
He raised a wrinkled right hand and pointed upward with his index finger.
"With the help of the one upstairs," he said from behind a pair of dark glasses. "Just follow the Lord."
Hensyel, born Jan. 1, 1911, marked his 100th birthday at the Sylvan House with his favorite chocolate cake, music, family and friends. As his guests sang happy birthday, he blew out the three numbered candles, 1-0-0. Moments later, the fire alarm in the assisted living center sounded, sending staff scurrying to shut it off.
"This is why we didn't bring 100 candles," laughed Sharon Hensyel Caswell, LeRoy's granddaughter.
Hensyel earned each one, though.
Born to Julius and Nettie Hensyel in Rose Hill, Iowa, he faced challenges early in life. The family lost their farm in the midst of the "Dust Bowl," and at age 17, LeRoy drove his parents in their Model T to Oregon. The 1,900 mile trip took two weeks as they averaged 20 miles an hour.
When they got to the hills, they had to drive backward.
"Grandpa came up with that," Hensyel Caswell said. "It was the only way for the gas to reach the engine."
LeRoy would marry Grace Anderson and together, they served as missionaries in the Northwest, Alaska, and spent 42 years in Mexico. They would go on to oversee more than 150 churches, ran a hospitality house on the Mexican border to serve pastors and volunteers, and created two mission organizations.
Dave Roberts, spiritual care coordinator with Auburn Crest Hospice, said Hensyel is an inspiration to all who know him. He noted that Hensyel was 51 when he moved to Mexico, an age when most are settling down. Instead, he ventured into the unknown to carry out the Lord's work, Roberts said.
"That's what he is, a hero of faith to me," he said.
His granddaughter agreed.
"He shows you can do stuff with your life even when you're 100 years old," she said.
LeRoy, still a sharp storyteller who shares his faith with visitors, is sound physically. Last week, he passed his 100-year checkup.
"You don't get many of those," Hensyel Caswell said.
LeRoy and Grace had two children, Richard and Judy, who live in Post Falls. Grace died in 2004 after 71 years of marriage.
As LeRoy prepared to blow out his birthday candles, he said his life was blessed, but not easy.
"I wouldn't want to go through everything there again. Some things were pretty tough to go through," said.
There is one thing, though, he would never change: His faith in God.
"That's the only one I can give any glory to is the Lord," he said. "I know within myself I never would have made it to 100. I didn't think I was going to make 50. Now, you see what happened."