While some people spend many hour pursuing their hobbies, few would still be going strong after 90 years of age.

Nicholas Hunderman, 93, keeps busy with woodworking projects in the basement of his home on Homerich Avenue just south of 76^th Street in Byron Township.

"It’s good exercise. I don’t want to stiffen up." Using lumber from a woods on his property, Hunderman makes shovel handles, crates used to store books, apples, or potatoes, and even ox yokes – mainly for show.

Hunderman has sold some of his work to neighbors and also gives some of it to his six children who are grown and living in the area. Hunderman, who has about 50 grandchildren and great-grandchildren, is not the township’s oldes resident despite his age. He and his second wife, Jennie, 85, have been married for 32 years.

According to Jennie Hunderman, her husband spends about 6 hours a day working on his wood projects. The self-taught woodworker said his children cut the wood for him, while he sands and puts paint oil on the wood items.

Woodworking is not the only hobby that occupies Hunderman’s time. During the summers, he keeps busy with his vegetable garden, and last year grew a pumpkin that weighed 222 pounds and was 96 ½ inches around.

For over 75 years (since 1903), Hunderman had kept 25 swarms of bees. The hives are now owned by his son-in-law.

Born in Jamestown Township in 1891, Hunderman moved to Byron in 1902. When he was married in 1918, his father gave him land to build the house where he has lived since. Like his father, Hunderman took up farming on his 75 acres of land.

Being a farmer had its advantages, as in World War I, when Hunderman was deferred from the armed services. Hunderman said he was glad farmers did not have to go to war. "They needed people to grow cops. I didn’t care to go to war."

He said farming also came in handy in the Great Depression of the 1930’s. While some farmers went deeply into debt, he was barely affected by the hard times. "I didn’t get much for anything though. You’d do well if you got 35 cents a bushel for potatoes or 10 cents a dozen for eggs."

He never moved from the community because it is a nice place to live. He can remember a Byron Township with 5 stores, including a blacksmith and a shoemaker. "It was better then than now. The Teddy Roosevelt time was pretty good. Now you can hardly save money, and you’ve got to have your doors locked. Years ago, you didn’t need to do that."

(Taken from the Advance, 1984)

He was 95 when he died. The inscription on his tombstone reads, "One day all creation shall bow to our Lord." He is buried with his first wife, Elizabeth (1891-1946). Graves of their children are: Elizabeth, 2 years; Bernice, 1 month, and Henry, age 21. (Boynton Cemetery