Clara Marie (Mills) Hanson, 22 Dec 1936 - 05 Oct 2022

HANSON, MILLS, ANDERSON, WICHMANN, SORENSEN, ALDRICH

Posted By: Sarah Witte (email)
Date: 11/2/2022 at 14:11:38

Clara Marie Hanson, age 85, of Wapello, passed away Wednesday, October 5, 2022 at Colonial Manor of Columbus Junction. Funeral services will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 8, 2022 at the United Methodist Church in Wapello. Burial will be in the Wapello Cemetery. Visitation will be held on Friday, October 7, 2022 from 4:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. at the Snyder & Hollenbaugh Funeral & Cremation Services of Wapello. A memorial fund has been established at the funeral home in memory of Marie. Sympathy notes may be left for the family at www.sandhfuneralservice.com.

Clara Marie Hanson was born at home Dec. 22, 1936, in Mexico, Mo., the daughter of Leo G. and Mary Christine (Anderson) Mills. She graduated from Mexico High School in 1954 and received her Bachelor of Science in elementary education from the University of Missouri, Columbia, Mo., in 1958.

Marie was a life-long kindergarten teacher, teaching in the Mediapolis and Burlington Community School Districts. She retired in 2003. She had been a member of the Burlington Education Association and the state and national education associations.

She married Frank Edward Hanson on Aug. 10, 1961, at the Methodist Church, Mexico, Mo. The couple lived and farmed near Wapello. She became a resident at Colonial Manor Care Center, Columbus Junction, in September 2020.

Marie enjoyed gardening and flowers and loved riding horses. She was a Louisa County 4-H leader in the 1980s. She showed her Australian cattle dog in obedience and agility and was a former member of the Iowa City Dog Obedience Club.

She was a member of the Wapello United Methodist Church, where she taught Sunday school and had been active in the United Methodist Women, the choir and the handbell choir.

Marie is survived by one daughter, Melinda (Jeff) Wichmann, Homestead; one sister, Karene Mills, Wapello; two sisters-in-law, Joyce Sorensen, Amarillo, Texas, and Alice Hanson, Terre Haute, Ind.; nieces and nephews, and family friends, Bill and Denise Ryan, Columbus Junction.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Frank, on Dec. 10, 2009; her parents; one sister, Cleo Gwen Mills; one brother, Gilbert Leon Mills; two brothers-in-law, David Hanson and John Hanson, and one sister-in-law, Rosemary (Hanson) Aldrich.

Published in The Journal Tribune on October 12, 2022.