His wife, ''blew him up in a firework''

Richard Hanley's love of fireworks and explosives was such that his wife ''blew him up in a firework,'' sending his ashes into a starry summer sky a year ago.

With that, and by raffling his custom 1984 Pontiac Fiero to raise money for the Saginaw Area Fireworks Inc. spectacle, ''I couldn't think of a better way to honor him,'' Gloria J. Hanley said. Richard Hanley died Feb. 13, 2007, after a short battle with leukaemia.

Saginaw Area Fireworks Inc. will raffle his car for $5 per ticket. The car, from the first year of production for the model, is worth about $5,000.

''He always liked blowing things up,'' said Gloria Hanley, 55, of Thomas Township. ''He was always exploding things. He loved the fireworks.

''I thought we might as well blow up the money we would have gotten for his car and give it to the fireworks.''