Kermit Edwin HANSEN

HANSEN, BURGMEIER, BREYFOGLE, MORROW, LIMBERT, RAVENSCROFT, BENDIXEN, SOLEM, HALL, GILLIAM, KRAEMER, HANSEN-RAVENSCROFT

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 5/2/2010 at 12:27:52

Kermit Hansen
August 23, 1927 - April 12, 2010
Storm Lake, Iowa

Visitation: 5-8:00 p.m. April 15, 2010 at Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Schaller, Iowa
Funeral Service: 10:30 a.m. April 16, 2010 at United Methodist Church in Schaller, Iowa
Interment: April 16, 2010 at Schaller Cemetery in Schaller, Iowa

Kermit Edwin Hansen, age 82, of Schaller, Iowa passed away on April 12, 2010. Kermit was born in Goldfield, Iowa on August 23, 1927. His parents were Peter and Josephine Burgmeier Hansen of Schaller. Kermit attended the Eureka Township country school two miles from the farm place through 8th grade and graduated from Schaller High School in 1944. During high school he was active in baseball, drama, speech, glee club and journalism and was vice-president of his senior class. He also enjoyed golf, bowling and traveling. Kermit served overseas with the United States Army during the occupation of Germany from November of 1945 to February of 1947 in the city of Nuremburg. Following the war, he returned to the family farm to continue working with his father. Kermit continued farming the 240-acre farm up through last fall, helping with the corn and soybean harvest, baling hay, shelling corn, and plowing up the hay ground. Various livestock was raised on the farm, including cattle, hogs and chickens, but sheep were the main focal point. Kermit raised and bred sheep for sixty-three years-- bringing orphaned lambs into the house and splinting the legs of the lambs that had been injured during birth. For the last twenty-four years, he has been farming in partnership with his son, Ryan.

Kermit met his wife Cecelia (daughter of Carl and Alice Breyfogle), a licensed practical nurse, at a dance held in the VFW Hall in Schaller. They were married on August 28th, 1963 at the Methodist Church in Storm Lake. Kermit and Cecelia became members of the United Methodist Church in Schaller. They moved onto the family farm outside of Schaller, where they have lived since. Together they worked as partners, putting up hay, raising sheep and chickens, harvesting large gardens, and selling eggs commercially. The couple enjoyed forty-seven years of marriage and raised four children.

Kermit will be remembered as an honest, kind and hard-working man. Rarely using chemicals on his fields, he farmed responsibly. He loved his older tractors and equipment—plowing and tilling the fields on his 930 Case. Enjoyable leisure activities included fishing and picnicking with his family, summer vacations, spending time with his grandchildren, and riding his bike. He could play the accordion, harmonica, piano and guitar. He was an avid reader—especially of history, Mark Twain and current news events. Kermit was a member of the Schaller VFW and served on the Hup Tu Squad for many years. He lived a full and productive life--never slowing down—continuing to work on the farm, cutting and splitting wood and working on machinery.

Kermit will be remembered lovingly by his wife Cecelia, daughter Kem and Clarence Morrow of Early; Kari and husband Tim Limbert of Early; son, Ryan and wife Colleen Hansen of Schaller, and son-in-law Joe Ravenscroft of Seattle. His grandchildren include: Mike Morrow, his partner Amy and their children, Elizabeth and Richard; Jeremy Morrow, his partner Mindy and their children, Satasha, Keegan, and A.J.; Cassie Morrow and her daughter, Kailee; John Limbert, Peter Limbert, Chris Bendixen and his son Christian; Kelli Bendixen; Katie Bendixen, her fiancé Mike Solem and children, Brian and Natasha; and Josey Hansen. He is also survived by his cousins Marjory Hansen of Storm Lake, Robert and wife Dot Hall of Brighton, Tennessee, Corky Gilliam of Lake Jackson, Texas, and Velma Jean Kraemer of Sweeney, Texas and many second and third cousins. Kermit was preceded in death by his parents, Pete and Josephine and his daughter Carla Hansen-Ravenscroft.