Obituary
Eleanor Hansen
Eleanor Hansen, 102, of Sparta, Wisconsin died on Sunday, June 11, 2023 at the Morrow Home from natural causes.
A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, July 1 with visitation at 1:30 p.m. and the service at 2:30 p.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church (ELCA) on 612 North Water Street, Sparta, WI. A reception will follow. Burial of the cremains will be at a later date.
Eleanor was born in Audubon, Iowa, the daughter of Ejner Andersen (blacksmith) and Sara Hansen Andersen (homemaker). Eleanor graduated from the Audubon Public Schools, playing cello and making many friends. Her parents were leaders in the Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church of Audubon, now Our Savior’s Lutheran. Her siblings and spouses, now deceased, are Rev. Johannes (Joe) Andersen (Beata Magnussen and Therma Madsen), Rev. Leonard Andersen (Dorothea Sorensen), Else Marie Aden (Rev. Ross Aden) and Emmert Andersen (Irene Hansen, Eleanora Clausen)
Eleanor ‘s work life was varied and interesting, starting at a candy counter as a high school student and, upon graduation, as an assistant to the county agent at the Audubon County Farm Bureau for three years. After a year at Dana College (Blair, NE), Eleanor worked for the Lutheran Publishing House and at Lutheran Immigration and Resettlement Services (Des Moines, IA) to work with Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian war refugees.
In 1954, her church work began formally when she moved to Lynwood, California to become a parish worker at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church. As a lover of children and music, she led camping trips and activities, directed children’s choirs and mentored youth.
In 1956, Eleanor began correspondence with Edwin Hansen, a young pastor serving rural parishes in Swan River, Manitoba. Born in Ruskin, Nebraska and educated at Dana College and Northwestern Lutheran Seminary (St. Paul, MN), Ed and Eleanor’s lives were intertwined even before they met. On February 4, 1957 the couple were married at St. Paul’s, and left for Canada to start their life together. There, they became parents to four children, Gloria (1959), Andrea (1960), Gregory (1962) and Bradley (1966).
Together they served rural congregations in Canada, South Dakota, Nebraska and Pennsylvania. In each community, Eleanor shared her gifts with children’s and adult choirs, ELCA women’s groups, Bible studies, and the families and members of each church. Eleanor was an aide at the Newville Elementary School (PA) and left to become the church secretary and children’s choir director for First Lutheran Church, Carlisle (PA). She was trained in Orff instruments and secured the instruments for her children’s choir. Upon their retirement, Eleanor and Ed volunteered at Koinonia Farms, Americus, Georgia for two winters.
In a second retirement, Eleanor and Edwin moved to Audubon, IA where they renewed friendships and enjoyed their extended family. They traveled to weddings, graduations, the births of grandchildren, and to visit Hansen and Andersen relatives. The highlights of these years included a trip to Oxford, England to visit their daughter Gloria and son-in-law Stephen Hague, which included traveling to their parents’ birthplaces in Denmark and connect with cousins.
On Eleanor’s 80th birthday, the couple moved to Sparta, WI to be close to their daughter Andrea and her husband Curtis Miller. Friendships were developed and family visits were prized. As members of Trinity Lutheran Church (ELCA), they continued their walk of faith within a community of support.
Eleanor moved to assisted living at the Morrow Home (Sparta) in 2015 after Edwin moved to Rolling Hills Care Facility for more advanced care. Her long life was enriched through the love of her children and grandchildren, her many close friendships, and the deep bonds she shared with her nieces and nephews on both the Andersen and Hansen sides. Eleanor delighted in her grandchildren‘s lives and the birth of her great-grandchild, Oliver. She was grateful for her church family and caregivers at every stage of her aging journey. The pandemic brought new challenges, but her 100th birthday was celebrated carefully and joyfully, as did her 101st and 102nd birthdays.
Eleanor met each day with a gratitude and a lifelong commitment to “be something for someone.” Eleanor cherished her old and new friendships, delighted in her children and extended family, honored her parents and Danish heritage, and grew in her Christian faith.
Eleanor is predeceased by her loving husband, Edwin H. Hansen, of almost 60 years, her beloved son Brad, her parents Ejner and Sara Andersen, and her dear siblings and their spouses.
She will be lovingly remembered by her children: Gloria Hague (Stephen Hague), Andrea (Curtis Miller), and Gregory (Betsy); grandchildren Julian (Elena), Marcus and Lucas Hague, and Chloe (Mack Hansen-Dunn) and Sara Hansen (Conner Choi) and great-grandson Oliver Hague. She will be dearly missed by her nieces and nephews, cousins, their families, and many dear friends from Trinity Lutheran, Sparta and beyond.
Memorial donations may be made to your state’s National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) at www.nami.org/home, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services (LIRS) at www.lirs.org, Trinity Lutheran Church, or an organization of your choosing.
Coulee Cremation Group is assisting the family with the arrangements.
Eleanor is the last of Ejner Andersen’s 1st American generation children. She was born five years after the end of WWI during a period known as the “roaring twenties”. She was a teenager during the Great Depression, saw Joe and Emmert to to WWII, In the post war period she lived in Audubon and helped her family through family losses such as Emmert’s wife’s death and being there for Connie and Linda and Joe,s automobile accident. After her marriage she lived through the Cold War, the hippies, and raising her children. Through all of these times and history her Faith and steadfast love of her family sustained her. She’s now in God’s hands.
Thank you , Ron, for tracing Eleanor’s life through a
century of seismic changes. I appreciated how Mom approached each day with gratitude, even in the tough times. She lived with hope. Mom so enjoyed your cards and photos, and was so happy to be your Aunt Eleanor.
Eleanor Andersen and her father, Ejner, came to Denmark for Christmas 1946 or 1947. We were all gathered there in a cozy little house in Bonned, Falster because her grandparents, Nils and Marie Andersen lived there with their daughter Nilsine, my grandmother. I’m sure we were 15 for Christmas Eve. Eleanor brought presents and I received a big cloth ABC book. Eleanor and Ejner brought all kinds of exotic goodies, including popcorn. Eleanor made popcorn balls and gave my mom, Eva, a beautiful green corduroy suit which she treasured. We immigrated to the US in 1951 and in 1957 Eleanor and Ed stopped at our farm, on their way to Canada. Ed was so handsome and she such a pretty bride. She laughingly told us that the church ladies in California had embroidered matching red longjohns for them. Eva and Eleanor stayed in touch by letters for as long as Eva lived and there were visits. in one memorable visit to Audubon we stayed with Ed and Eleanor. We, my mom Eva, her sister Kamma from Denmark, I and maybe Linda Hansen drove out for a ride in the country. It was a late fall afternoon and the sun was low. Eleanor was driving. We heard a thud, stopped the car and there was an unfortunate pheasant that had run right into the front grille. Someone said how pretty he was and then someone else mentioned what a good dinner he could be. Into the trunk he went and in Eleanor’s kitchen he turned into dinner that night. Mom, Kamma, Eleanor and I did as much laughing as cooking. That is how I remember my very dear cousin Eleanor. By her example we are all better people.