John R. “Smiling Jack” Hansen

HANSEN, FABRE, KREUCHER, GRIMM, RIESKAMP, THOMAS, BAHNSEN, MCGUIRE, LAWTON

Posted By: Ruth Maring - Volunteer (email)
Date: 6/18/2006 at 18:47:28

The Clinton Herald
Published: June 15, 2006 01:35 pm

John R. “Smiling Jack” Hansen

Visitation: 4 to 8 p.m. Friday at Clinton Chapel Snell-Zornig Funeral Home and Crematory.

SERVICES: 1 p.m. Saturday at Zion Lutheran Church with the Rev. Jennifer Henry officiating.

CLINTON — John R. “Smiling Jack” Hansen, 81, of Clinton, died Wednesday at Veterans Administration Medical Center, Iowa City.

Burial will be in Springdale Cemetery with military honors conducted by Clinton AMVETS Post 28.

Pallbearers will be Dean and Keith Hansen, Greg and Steve Mallinger, Dean and Keith Grimm, Rich McGuire, Bill Clark, Kristian Bahnsen and Aiden Thomas.

He was born July 6, 1924, in Chicago to John and Ida Fabre Hansen. He married Janice Kreucher in 1945 in Clinton. He later married Marlene Grimm on July 4, 1952, in Kahoka, Mo.

He was a veteran of World War II. He was private, first class, in Co. B, with the 298th Engineer Battalion serving in the European Theater. He fought in the battles of Normandy, Northern France, Ardennes and received a Purple Heart in the battle of Rhineland.

At age 10, he started his sales career. He was a car salesman with Cunningham Rambler, Car Carrier, Watkins Motors, Smith Chrysler-Plymouth, Bickelhaupt Motors, Lee Paasch Ford, Key Ford, Rose Ford and Gateway Ford, all in Clinton.

He was a member of Clinton AMVETS Post 28, Clinton Moose Club, Clinton Eagles Club, VFW and lifetime member of the Disabled American Veterans. He founded and operated Jackie’s Open Hills and Dales Golf Tournament for 20 years.

Survivors include his wife, Marlene of Clinton; one son, John (Becky) Hansen Jr. of DeWitt; three daughters, Cherie (Gerald) Rieskamp of Amana, Rhonda (Mike) Thomas of DeKalb, Ill., and Heather (Kevin) Bahnsen of Clinton; 13 grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; two sisters, Leona (Richard) McGuire of Montgomery, Ill., and Arlene Lawton of Crete, Ill.; and two brothers, Richard (Inge) Hansen of Clinton and Raymond (Bebe) Hansen of Sarasota, Fla.

Memorials be made to Hills and Dales Child Development Center, Dubuque.

He was preceded in death by his parents, one son, one sister and one brother.

Death date: June 14, 2006