Bryan Hardenbrook

Bryan Hardenbrook, 65, passed away of natural causes on January 6th, 2022. He was preceded in death by his parents, and his brothers Steve and Dan. He is survived by brothers Gary, Alan, Tim and sisters Lois and Linda. He was a lifelong Kalamazoo resident. From a young age Bryan was fascinated by model airplanes, bicycles, motorcycles and cars. He had a life-long passion for tinkering with machines. He restored motorcycles, drag raced, built bicycle frames, painted muscle cars and made many hundreds of free-flight model airplanes, many of his own strange and eccentric designs. Chronic degenerative health problems began to restrict Bryan's life in his mid thirties. He reacted by doing more bike and scooter riding and building more airplanes. When he was focused on building his new idea he would forget his pain and saw, weld, glue, and paint. He finished his machines beautifully and kept his shop clean. He built projects to satisfy his curiosity. He had to find out if he could make it work or not. One of his wildest was a three wheel bicycle with a two-stroke lawnmower engine turning a hand-carved propeller, fast, dangerous and actually a legal moped in Michigan. He welded up experimental hot rod exhaust chambers for his scooters. Bryan was stubborn and took long bike and scooter rides for years after his doctor told him to sit on the couch and try not to move. He had a weird, ornery sense of humor, and made a lot of nurses laugh. When he was finally forced into assisted living he sorely missed his house and shop. In the final years of his life the amazing staff at Alamo Nursing Home turned things around by building him a table and helping him get the supplies to begin building planes again. Once more his room (and others) became decorated by his cheerful balsa wood creations. Interment has taken place. A memorial visitation will be held on Saturday March 12th from 2pm to 4pm at Langeland Family Funeral Homes Burial & Cremation Services, 622 S. Burdick St., Kalamazoo, MI 49007. To leave an online condolence, please visit https://www.langelands.com