RONALD HOWARD HANSEN

Cousin Ron

Written by Terry Conner

    Whenever I think of Ron, the first image that pops into my head is his wonderful smile.  He smiled all over his face, and that smile, complete with dimples, was the same from the time he was a baby until he left us.  I remember being very excited when baby Ron arrived on the scene.  For one thing, I wasn’t the youngest anymore.  But, best of all, I had a real live baby to play with.  He was baby Ronnie to me until he got to high school.  Then, he was just too tall to be called the baby!

    At age 19, Ron joined the air force and became a medic.  He was there for four years.  After he got out, he joined up with two buddies and they rented a 3-bedroom bachelor pad.  Shortly after that, he met his Nancy.  Bob remembers his joking remark,” she’s the best I could get with the car I had”.  She must have thought it was a Rolls Royce because he sure found a wonderful woman and a true soul mate.  They bought their first house before they were married and Nancy lived there with her sister until the wedding day.

    He drove school bus while he went to radio school.  Afterwards, he worked for a radio talking school for the blind and drove trolleys-monorail metro transit.  One snow day when the road was very slippery, the bus slid thru an intersection!  He managed to bring it to a safe stop and all the passengers applauded!  He worked two jobs...radio and driving, for a very long time.

   When Ron first started in radio, he worked the all night shift.  It was during this time that Bob traded his Mercedes for Ron’s truck one day.  That morning one of the top jocks came in and raved, “ boy, I always wanted to work in a radio station where the all niter drove a Mercedes!”

   Not long after this, Ron and Bob formed their chartered flying corporation called the Hansen Brothers Flying Circus.  It lasted for about two years and the brothers had a great time.

   Bus drivers were getting robbed a lot and that job was becoming way too dangerous.  He was getting big time radio gigs by then so just worked as a D. J.  Nancy was working for Abbey Rents and talked them into doing the party thing.  She was so successful at this that she started her own business, “Dates to Remember”.  Cute play on words as her maiden name was Date.

  The two worked very hard and parlayed their money from one place to another to finance their home and three businesses’!  They finally took their proceeds and started to travel.  Tours to Italy, Alaska, wherever!  Because they were so loved by their community, they helped to promote a travel agency.  They were known as Dancing Ron Hansen and Nancy from Nancy’s party rentals.  A very popular couple.

   They seemed to have the perfect marriage and were so suited to each other.  Very laid back and easy going and always a kind word and a warm smile.  Everybody wanted to spend time with them.  It was like basking in a rosy glow.  Like his father before him, Ron left us way too early.  And 14 months later, his loving wife joined him.  They are sorely missed.