Hazel Irene Hanson

Hazel I. Hanson age 93 of Sturgis, SD, formerly of Tracy, MN died Wednesday, April 18, 2012 at the Sturgis Senior Care Center in Sturgis. Services will be 10:00 AM Monday, June 18, 2012 at the Almlie Funeral Home in Tracy. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service at the funeral home on Monday. Interment will be in the Tracy City Cemetery, with a luncheon served immediately following in the Tracy United Methodist Church social hall. The Almlie Funeral Home of Tracy is handling the arrangements. Hazel Irene Hanson was born April 1, 1919 to Gus and Grace (Hinds) Mann in Marshall, MN. She was baptized and confirmed in the Christian faith and attended Marshal Public Schools. As a young woman she began her nursing career at the “old” Weiner Memorial Hospital in Marshall. She continued nursing following a marriage and three children, Joey, Grace and David. On March 11, 1950 Hazel married Verdun C. Hanson and they made their home on a farm near Amiret, MN. In the years that followed two more daughters, Jackie and Judy, were born and Hazel became a nurse at the Tracy Nursing Home. She retired from nursing in 1991 after over fifty years. She then worked as Activities Director at Tracy Nursing Home for several years. After her husband’s death Hazel remained on the farm until 1993, when she moved to Lamberton, MN to be near her daughter, Grace and her family. After Grace’s sudden death Hazel made her home with her daughters, Jackie, during the summer months and Judy, during the winter months, then later, she stayed in Vale, SD. She was a past member of the Amiret Methodist Church and when that closed, she became a member of the Tracy United Methodist Church. Hazel enjoyed riding horses in years past, crafts, reading, playing cards and gardening, especially her flowers. She loved to decorate inside and outside of her home for the holidays and her house was featured many times in local papers. Following a fall at home, Hazel became a resident of the Sturgis Care Center in Sturgis, SD, where she died Wednesday, April 18, 2012, at the age of 93. Hazel is survived by her two sons, Leo “Joe” (Elfriede) Evans of Rochester, MN and David (Joyce) Evans of Wells, MN; two daughters, Jackie (Jack) Buysse of Valley Springs, SD and Judith (Virlane) Lang of Vale, SD; eleven grandchildren; two great grandchildren; son-in-law, Richard Weedman of Lamberton, MN; nieces, nephews and friends. Her husband, Verdun, daughter, Grace Weedman, grandson, Bryan Evans, great grandson, Derek Evans, three brothers, Phillip (June) Mann, Ward (Katherine) Mann, and Keith Mann, and one sister, Helen (Kenneth) Williams preceded her in death.