By Jessica Ginet

What happens when you’re 19 years old and receive what appears to be a draft notice from the U.S. Army?
If you’re Ed Hannifan, you don’t open the envelope and high tail it to the Navy recruiting office in Portage, Wisconsin.
Hannifan retired in 1995 as an Aviation Ordinance Chief Master (AOCM) after 28 years of service. Hannifan continues to apply the ethics he learned in the Navy to life today – he takes seriously his adherence to personal accountability and his responsibility to self, family and the community.
“I brought the USS Nimitz around the first time (27 years ago) and was one of the lucky sailors who stayed here the last 11 years of my career,” Hannifan said.
Kitsap County had that special something that Hannifan never forgot, even after multiple duty stations and deployments. At the time he was on the USS Enterprise.
“This was the first area where we felt welcome,” he said. “We didn’t feel like just a temporary transient population.”
When Hannifan relocated to Kitsap County he worked hard to give the local military population the same welcome he received earlier in his career.
“I was part of the Military Affairs Committee and heavily involved in the Silverdale Chamber of Commerce,” he said. “I wanted to make sure the other military families felt as welcome as I did.”
Looking back, Hannifan has fond memories of his Navy days.
“I’ve been to virtually every free port for carriers in the Mediterranean,” he said, continuing, “Australia and Spain were just fantastic places. The Philippines was great. The people are fantastic and friendly. It was almost as good as Australia. People would remember you from the last time you were in port and a Sam McGill was one peso, or about ten cents.”
Hannifan admits he disliked the first two years in the Navy, enlisting solely to get away from the Army draft.
Things changed, however, when he returned to his hometown on leave after a few years away.
“I noticed some friends doing the same things they had been doing the past three years. They had stayed in the same place and done the same things. I started thinking about how I had seen so many places and done so much, it was like . . . Hey! And then it wasn’t bad.”
Hannifan met his future bride in California while assigned to shore duty in Miramar. He had been in the Navy for four years. Ed and Penny Hannifan have been married for 41 years and will celebrate their 42nd anniversary on Feb. 4. Hannifan credits his wife for all her hard work while he was on tour.
“Tours were brutal,” he said. “I was gone for nine or 10 months at a time, home four months and gone another nine.”
He continued, “In the beginning I was gone a lot longer than I was home. Penny did a wonderful job of maintaining the home and raising the kids (Beverly, Jason and Kelly) while I was gone.”
Since retiring from the Navy, Hannifan obtained his degree in marketing and small business management from Olympic College and works with his wife as an Associate Broker for John L. Scott Real Estate, a job he’s had for the past 12 years. Ed works doing the manual labor like putting up signs, maintaining properties, etc., while Penny works on the administrative part of the job. They work as a team.
“Let’s just say that after the Navy I was done with paper pushing and administration stuff,” he said with a laugh.
As an associate broker in a military town, he continues to work with and help young military families. Many of them are purchasing their first home and making big decisions, something Hannifan is happy to advise on.
“I probably think more about how the house fits with the client and the future of the client more than most, like how long they will be stationed here,” he said. “It’s something I consider more than any financial gain on my part.”
When Hannifan has spare time, he enjoys fishing on the Hood Canal. He considers it one of the most beautiful bodies of water in the United States.
“When you spend a sunny day on the Hood Canal, there’s no way you can’t fall in love with it,” he said.
Hannifan offers advice to new veterans: “Continue to care about your family, your community and always hold yourself to individual accountability. The most reliable person is yourself and you have to hold yourself accountable.”