It wasn’t uncommon for Donald “Donnie” Hansen to lend a hand, spare some free repair time and sometimes even donate a vehicle to someone in need.

Hansen, 72, of Woodstock, died Sunday after being ejected from his motorcycle near Woodstock. His family is spending the week honoring him.

About 35 years ago, Hansen decided to open Don Hansen’s Alignment & Auto Service repair shop in McHenry.

“Cars [were] all he knew,” said his wife, Judy Hansen.

She added that mechanics would fight over hiring her husband to work at their shop.

He was known throughout the community as a “hot rod builder,” said his son, Donald Hansen Jr.

Sally Joosten said her brother was known for his honesty.

“He was always fair and always honest. It wasn’t about the dollar, but it was about making people safe,” Donald Hansen Jr. said. “Older ladies would come to him, and there would be no bill.”

Donald Hansen Jr. said it wasn’t uncommon for his father to leave a vehicle for someone in their driveway with the keys in it if they were in need.

His two children, Tracy and Donald Jr., and three grandchildren remembered Donald Hansen taking them fishing and hunting.

“Hunting and fishing season was our time together, and during the last couple of years I got away from that, and I think he was trying to find another way to spend time with me, and that’s why he was surprising us with a motorcycle,” Donald Hansen Jr. said. “He was going to pull up to my house Sunday afternoon and surprise me with that thing and say, ‘Let’s go for a ride.’ ”

Every day after work, men would gather at Donald Hansen’s shop to talk about life, and they still sit there today talking to his chair, Tracy Hansen said.

“We went in there on Monday, and they were there in the same chair they always sat in, and I bet they are there every day helping the boys out,” Donald Hansen Jr. said.

The shop will stay open under ownership of the Hansen family, and it be run by “two men he loved to death,” Al Barry of Woodstock and Corey Johansen of McHenry.

“He wouldn’t want those doors shut,” Donald Hansen Jr. said.

The visitation will be from 4 to
8 p.m. Thursday, and memorial services will be from 11 a.m. to noon Friday at Schneider-Leucht-Merwin and Cooney Funeral Home, 1211 N. Seminary Ave., Woodstock.

Weather permitting, the family is asking those with hot rods and motorcycles to join them for “Donnie’s Final Ride” after Friday’s service for a ride to Niko’s Red Mill Tavern.