Christoffer W. Hansen 1870-1957

HANSEN, ARMSTRONG, GERRARD, FAY

Posted By: Merllene Andre Bendixen (email)
Date: 3/18/2011 at 22:09:01

C. W. Hansen Dies Today at His Home
C. W. Hansen, 87, retired owner-operator of what was Estherville’s oldest business, the Gardston Tailor Shop until it closed last October, died at 11:30 this morning at his home.

Mr. Hansen came to Estherville in 1903 working first with the late John Hansen as a tailor. With the exception of an illness in 1918 and vacations, Mr. Hansen was in his tailor shop every business day until 1953 when he retired, leaving his daughter to manage the business.

The C. W. Hansen tailor shop had first been opened in 1914 where the Sears Roebuck store now stands. A fire in the building four years later forced him to close temporarity but the shop was then relocated in the Gardston Hotel building.

Mr. Hansen was born in Denmark, coming to the United States when he was 19 years old. He first settled in Sioux City and worked as tailor there for 14 years.

Survivors include a son and three daughters, Robert and Eliza Hansen, both of Estherville; Mrs. Muriel Gerrard of Minneapolis and Mrs Leo G. (M---) Fay of San Bernardino, Calif. A complete obituary and funeral arrangements will be published in tomorrow’s Daily News. (Estherville Daily News, Estherville, IA, July 2, 1957)

C. W. Hansen Rites Will Be Friday
Funeral services for C. W. Hansen who died at his home at 11:35 a.m. yesterday will be conducted Friday at 10:30 a.m. at First Presbyterian Church. A family service will be held at church at 9:30.

Friends may call a Sandin-Fuhrman Funeral Home this evening and until Friday morning at which time the body will be taken to the church to lie in state from 9 a.m. until time of services. The casket will not be opened after the services.

A memorial fund has been established. The Rev. Thomas G. Melton will officiate at the services.

Christoffer Hansen, a native of Denmark, had had a lingering illness and had been bedfast for the past eight months. He was born Sept. 30, 1870. He came to the United States in 1890, settling in Sioux City until 1892 and then moving to Audubon.

He lived in Audubon until 1901 and established his own business as Merchant Tailor there. From 1901-1903 he was in Antigo, Wis. and then came to Estherville in 1903.

In Estherville he worked with the late John Hansen as a tailor until the fall of 1914 when he opened his own business, locating where the Sears Roebuck store now stands. A fire in the building four years later forced him to close temporarily but the shop was then relocated in the Gardston Hotel building.

Mr. Hansen retired from tailoring in 1953 but the Gardston Tailor Shop was managed by his daughter, Miss Eliza Hansen, until last October when the shop closed.

Mr. Hansen was a member of the First Presbyterian Church and had served as a trustee in the church. He also had been a life member of the Knights of Pythias and was a member of the Chamber of Commerce.

He is survived by a son and three daughters, Robert J. and Eliza B. Hansen, both of Estherville; Mrs. L. F. (Muriel) Gerard of Minneapolis and Mrs. Leo G. (Merna) Fay of San Bernardino, Calif.; four grandchildren and seven great grandchildren.

Also surviving is a brother, Lauitz Hansen and two sisters, Mrs. Albert Knudsen and Mrs. Sine Nielson, all of Denmark. Preceding him in death is his wife, the former Sadie Armstrong of Hailley, to whom he was married July 30, 1900; his parents, one son, Elwyn A. Hansen; and one brother. (Estherville Daily News, Estherville, IA, July 3, 1957)