Hanson, Devra Jean (1944-2014)

HANSON, WITHERS, SETHER, KRIEGER, TVEDT, BELL, PLETCHER, BRATTRUD

Posted By: Paul Nagy (email)
Date: 5/10/2014 at 15:23:30

Devra Jean Hanson
(May 23, 1944 - April 4, 2014)

Devra Jean (Withers) Hanson died peacefully at her “Deerhaven” rural home, Henning, Minnesota, on April 4, 2014, at 4:34 p.m. after entering hospice care on April 3. She had fought a gallant, courageous three and a half year fight with Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma, a rare, slow-growing cancer with no known cure that ultimately affected her liver. She died holding her husband’s and daughter’s hands and surrounded by all her brothers and sisters as well as other family members.

Devra was born to Donald E. and Judyth M. (Sether) Withers on May 23, 1944, in Mountain Lake, Minnesota. She grew up in Mankato and Jackson, graduating from Jackson High School in 1962. During high school, she worked at Joul Drug to save money before attending and graduating from Waldorf College with an Associate of Arts Degree in 1965. She continued her education at Jackson Area Vocational Technical College and graduated in 1966 with an accounting diploma. She, then, accepted a job in the accounting department at Spencer Packing Company, Spencer, Iowa.

On August 28, 1966, Devra married Dan Hanson from Albert Lea, Minnesota, whom she had met at Waldorf. They spent four years on U.S. Air Force assignments at Amarillo, Texas, and Denver, Colorado. In Amarillo, she worked in a CPA office and with an insurance/investment company in Denver. In 1970, they moved to Hanlontown, Iowa, when Dan joined his brother in business. Devra worked at the local grade school as a teacher’s aide and playground assistant before becoming secretary to the principal.

In 1976, Dan joined the Good Samaritan Society-Albert Lea, and Devra became a secretary in the Good Samaritan Center’s business office. In 1977, they moved to Luverne, Minnesota, where Dan accepted a position as administrator of the Mary Jane Brown Good Samaritan Nursing Home, and Devra became the first woman insurance adjuster at Tri State Insurance. In 1978, Dan was reassigned to the Good Samaritan Society-Albert Lea, and Devra worked in the office of Fountain Industries before becoming the business office/personnel manager for Good Samaritan. In 1985, she accompanied Dan to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to another Good Samaritan Society relocation. Later, she became the shared ministries coordinator at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, helping to implement and train people for the Stephen Ministry Program. She continued in that role until 1993 when Dan relocated to the Good Samaritan Society office in St. Paul, Minnesota, and they moved to Lakeville, Minnesota. Here, Devra decided to pursue her dream to become a certified doll restoration artist or “doll doctor.” She established Devra’s Doll Hospital in 1999, and began to repair, paint, and sew doll clothes for antique dolls.

Their final moves took them back to Sioux Falls and eventually north to Henning. After she and Dan bought their old farm house and land between Battle Lake and Henning in 2006, Devra began fulfilling another dream. She worked with contractors, doing much of the planning, designing, and painting on their country home. After completing the work on the house in 2008, she hosted her family that summer at the new “Deerhaven” home.

A member of First Lutheran Church of Battle Lake, Devra loved her Lord and the work of the church. She led Bible studies and served on the Altar Guild and the women’s circle. Highly respected for her winsome ways, intelligence, wisdom, empathy, and genuine interest in others, she always worked to the best of her abilities and without any real interest in receiving any recognition. Her life was one of service to her family and others. She enjoyed the trips she and Dan took to Hawaii, Alaska, Norway, Italy, Germany, and, most recently, England and Scotland.

Surviving Devra are her husband, Dan, of Henning, Minnesota; her daughter, Kristina Krieger, of Eagan, Minnesota; her sisters, Lynn Tvedt (Les), of Andover, Minnesota, Jan (Dan) Bell, of New Durham, New Hampshire, and Mary Lou (Jeff) Pletcher, of Apple Valley, Minnesota; her brother Alan, Withers, of West St Paul, Minnesota; her mother-in-law, Gladys Hanson, of Lake Mills, Iowa; and her sisters-in- law, Janet Withers, Norfolk, Virginia, and Jean Brattrud, Clear Lake, Iowa; as well as nine nieces and nephews and eight great nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, an older brother, David Withers, her father-in-law, Harvey Hanson, and her brother-in-law, Richard Brattrud.

In lieu of flowers the family requests that memorials be sent in Devra’s memory to one or more of the following: Hope Lodge in Rochester, Minnesota, Mayo Cancer Research in Rochester, Minnesota, Good Samaritan Foundation-Staff Crisis Fund, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Waldorf College Foundation-Staff Scholarships, Forest City, Iowa, or Grace Lutheran Church in Hanlontown, Iowa.

Minnesota arrangements by Glende-Nilson Funeral Home (218)736-7064. Funeral Service: 2:00 p.m. Wednesday, April 9, 2014, at the First Lutheran Church in Battle Lake, Minnesota. Visitation: Tuesday from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. with a Prayer Service at 7:30 p.m. at the First Lutheran Church and from 12:00 noon to the time of the service on Wednesday.

Iowa arrangements by Mittelstadt Funeral Home. Funeral Service: 1:00 p.m. Saturday, April 12, 2014, at the Salem Lutheran Church in Lake Mills, Iowa, with Rev. Jake Durhaug officiating. Visitation from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., Friday, with a Prayer Service at 6:45 p.m. at the Mittelstadt Funeral Home, 902 East Main Street, Lake Mills, Iowa, and one hour prior to the service on Saturday at the church. Burial will take place at Salem Memorial Cemetery in Lake Mills, Iowa.

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