Darby Township sits in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, where local routines often stretch across decades. William Owen Hanna, known to friends as Owen, turned 100 on October 4 and still joins the senior league at MacDade Bowl for half the year. He has bowled since his teenage years, a habit that has outlasted careers, military service, and profound personal loss. His story reflects the steady pull of community spaces that anchor people across a lifetime.
A Life of Service and Steady Work
Hanna served two years in the United States Army Quartermaster Corps. After his discharge he worked as a trucking contractor, welder, and diesel-engine mechanic. Those roles carried him through the middle decades of the twentieth century and into retirement. Even as his professional life shifted, he remained rooted in Darby Township. The same steadiness appears in his long commitment to the First African Baptist Church, where he has held roles that include Sunday school teacher, superintendent, treasurer, and chairman of the bus transportation ministry. He continues to serve on the Board of Deacons and in the Adult Sunday School Class.
Family, Faith, and the Title of Big Pop-Pop
Hanna raised four daughters and led a Boy Scout troop despite having only female children at home. His wife and three daughters have passed, yet the family circle has grown outward. Grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren know him simply as Big Pop-Pop. Church and family life have always overlapped. The same congregation that marked his milestones also provides the social rhythm that keeps him engaged each week.
The Lanes as a Continuing Tradition
Bowling remains one of the few activities Hanna has maintained without interruption. He attends the senior league at MacDade Bowl on a weekly basis during the season. Fellow bowlers marked his recent birthday with a small celebration at the alley, underscoring how the lanes function as an extension of his social world. The activity itself requires balance, focus, and repetition – qualities that align with the disciplined life he has led in uniform, at work, and in church leadership. For Hanna, the weekly visit is less about competition than about presence and continuity.
Local Places That Hold Memory
In Delaware County, bowling alleys and churches often serve as quiet anchors for long-term residents. Hanna’s routine illustrates how these spaces preserve connection across generations. The lanes at MacDade Bowl now hold decades of his throws, just as the pews at First African Baptist Church hold decades of his service. Such places reward consistency. They offer a setting where age brings recognition rather than exclusion, and where a single weekly habit can span an entire century.
AI Disclaimer: This article was created with the assistance of AI tools and reviewed by a human editor.