Each year the Perry Golf and Country Club (PGCC) honors the memory of a former member who had a significant impact on the club. This year’s 10th annual Memorial Golf Tournament will be played in honor of the late Louie and Doris Hensen.
The tournament is scheduled for Sunday, July 9.
Louie and Doris were longtime members of PGCC, and they played golf well into their 90s, which is an amazing accomplishment. They were very active members, and they rarely missed a Friday night dining at the club.
Louie spent many mornings checking on the numerous bird houses that were hanging throughout the golf course before he embarked on his nine holes of golf. Doris was a dedicated bridge player and enjoyed her bridge time on Thursdays with the ladies from the club.
The Hensens were engaged in farming for quite awhile before Louie began to manage the sale barn in Perry along with a partner. They soon moved to town and purchased a home on 16th Street.
Louie was a people person and was a good manager of the sale barn and Doris, being an excellent cook, prepared the most delicious lunches at the sale barn for all those who came. They put their hearts into their work, and they were tireless workers.
The July 9 Memorial Golf Tournament is open to anyone who would like to play in it. The Championship Flight will play 27 holes, while the senior division and all other flights will play 18 holes. The defending champion is Denny Bull, and the defending senior champion is Dr. Randy McCaulley. To enter, call the PGCC clubhouse at 515-465-3852.
Doris and Louie were great friends of my parents, Art and Helen Schott, and that friendship lasted for many, many years. My daughter Ann worked for them at the sale barn lunch room, her very first job, and Doris taught her how to take care of customers and keep everything going. Louie was a great auctioneer. He sold everything under the sun around this community and was always engaging and helpful. Once Louie was selling a small ranch house on Otley. The former owner had passed away, and I believe the Perry State Bank was the trustee of her estate. Regardless, the day of the sale, I was there, and I was bidding on the house. I wanted to buy it to restore and use as a rental. Louie stopped the sale, came over to me and quietly asked me whether I had been in the house and knew it’s condition, and was I sure I wanted it? I answered, yes, to all the questions. The bidding continued, and I did get the house bought. The problem Louie was talking about was that the lady had about 75 cats living in the house, and they had defecated everywhere, and nothing had been cleaned up! Well, that’s why it sold so cheaply, and that was a beginning of buying dirty houses and cleaning them well and renting for a year and then selling. Thanks, Louie!