Ralph Hauenstein (March 20, 1912 – January 10, 2016) was an American philanthropist, army officer and business leader, best known as a newspaper editor. His leadership has produced institutions such as the Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies at Grand Valley State University, the Hauenstein Parkinsons and Neuroscience Centers at Saint Mary's Hospital and the Grace Hauenstein Library at Aquinas College.

Early life

Born in Fort Wayne,

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, in 1912, Hauenstein moved to

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...

at the age of twelve. In 1935, Hauenstein was commissioned in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

as a second lieutenant and became commander of an all-African-American

Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was a major part of ...

camp in

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

. After two and one-half years on active duty, Hauenstein returned to civilian life and became city editor of the '' Grand Rapids Herald''. In December 1940, one year before the attack on

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the R ...

, he returned to active duty. During the Second World War, he rose to the rank of colonel and served under

General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

as chief of the Intelligence Branch in the Army's European theater of operations. In 1945, he was among the first Americans into liberated

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, Germany, and

Nazi concentration camps From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps, (officially) or (more commonly). The Nazi concentration camps are distinguished from other types of Nazi camps such as forced-labor camps, as well as con ...

. The destruction convinced him to work for better international relations and peaceful solutions to conflict.

Post-war leadership and service

After the war, Hauenstein saw opportunities to build bridges between the United States and a Europe devastated by war. He went into international trade and partnered with European enterprises to provide goods and services to consumers in Europe, the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

, and elsewhere where democracies were struggling. He underwrote a modern bakery in Haiti, providing jobs for hundreds of workers and thousands of individual distributors at a difficult time in that nation's history. He also set up a school in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

that taught people from developing countries how to run a fully automated bakery and provide good jobs in their local economy. Hauenstein's leadership and service, however, went beyond the private sector. During the

administration, Hauenstein served as a consultant on the President's Advisory Commission. He also served as an auditor at the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and was part of the team that supervised the first free elections in Russia with the

Jamestown Foundation The Jamestown Foundation is a Washington, D.C.-based conservative defense policy think tank. Founded in 1984 as a platform to support Soviet defectors, its stated mission today is to inform and educate policy makers about events and trends, which ...

in 1996.

Philanthropy

Hauenstein contributed to numerous charitable causes. His philanthropic efforts can be seen in higher education institutions in the West Michigan area: at Grand Valley State University, his contribution made possible the founding of the Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies, whose mission is to inspire a new generation of leaders devoted to public service. Th
Grace Hauenstein Library
is a prominent fixture on the Grand Rapids campus of Aquinas College. Hauenstein's philanthropy extended into the field of medicine. In December 2003, Hauenstein contributed $2 million to Saint Mary's Health Care to jump start a $15 million campaign to create a comprehensive Neurosciences Center on the campus. From this initial donation—and efforts to raise more money—the Mercy Healthbr>Hauenstein Neuroscience Center
is a leader in the fight against this disease. Hauenstein was also one of three board members who established the

Van Andel Institute Van Andel Institute (VAI) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit biomedical research and science education organization in Grand Rapids, Michigan. VAI was founded by Jay and Betty Van Andel in 1996. The institute's research focuses on cancer epigenetics a ...

for Medical Research in Grand Rapids and was one of its trustees.

Later life and death

In 2013, Hauenstein donated $1 million to the Hauenstein Center in celebration of its 10th anniversary. Hauenstein turned 100 in March 2012 and died in his sleep of natural causes at his home in Grand Rapids, Michigan on January 10, 2016, at the age of 103. His

funeral Mass A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...

was said on January 15 by Bishop David J. Walkowiak of the

Diocese of Grand Rapids The Roman Catholic Diocese of Grand Rapids ( la, Dioecesis Grandcataractensis) is a diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in western Michigan, in the United States. It comprises 80 parishes in 11 counties in West Michigan. It is a suffragan see to ...

at the Cathedral of Saint Andrew.

Leadership positions

*Colonel-United States Army *Trustee-Van Andel Research Institute *Trustee-Gerald R. Ford Foundation *Trustee-Jamestown Foundation *Founder-Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies *Founder-Hauenstein Parkinson's Center *President/chairman-Werner Lehara Corporation *President-Serra International

Awards

Hauenstein was inducted into Omicron Delta Kappa - The National Leadership Honor Society as an ''honoris causa'' initiate at Grand Valley State University in 2012. In 2013 he was honored with the Laurel Crowned Circle Award, the society's highest honor.

Publications

Hauenstein, along with Donald Markle, authored a book about his role in the Allied efforts during World War II. ''Intelligence Was My Line: Inside Eisenhower's Other Command'' was published in 2005 by

Hippocrene Books Hippocrene Books is an independent US publishing press located at 171 Madison Avenue, New York City, NY 10016. Hippocrene specializes in foreign language study guides, international cookbooks, and Polish-interest publishing. The foreign lang ...

.Hauenstein, Ralph W., and Donald E. Markle. Intelligence Was My Line: Inside Eisenhower's Other Command. New York: Hippocrene Books, 2005.

References

External links

The Hauenstein Center for Presidential StudiesGrand Valley State UniversitySaint Mary’s Hauenstein Parkinson’s CenterVan Andel Research InstituteThe Jamestown FoundationThe Grace Hauenstein LibraryHippocrene Books
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hauenstein, Ralph 1912 births 2016 deaths American centenarians American memoirists Men centenarians United States Army personnel of World War II American philanthropists Civilian Conservation Corps people Eisenhower administration personnel Grand Valley State University people People from Fort Wayne, Indiana Businesspeople from Grand Rapids, Michigan United States Army officers