Genevieve E. Hanson

WAVERLY, Iowa - Genevieve E. Hanson, age 93, of Waverly formerly of Nashua died Saturday morning, July 7, 2007 at Bartel’s Lutheran Retirement Community in Waverly of cancer.

Funeral services will be 1:30 p.m. Saturday July 14, 2007, at the Good Shepherd Chapel in Bartel’s Lutheran Retirement Community in Waverly with Pastor Keith Tomlinson officiating. 

Interment will be in Oak Hill Cemetery in Nashua.

Visitation will be held 3 - 7 p.m. Friday at the Hugeback & Chenoweth Funeral Home in Nashua and noon until service time on Saturday at the Good Shepherd Chapel.

Memorials may be directed to the Bartel’s Chaplaincy Fund c/o Bartel’s Lutheran Retirement Community, 1922 5th Ave NW, Waverly, Iowa 50677. 

Genevieve Esther Hanson was born February 21, 1914, in Rutland, Iowa, the daughter of Niels and Christine (Lindhartsen) Hvitved. She grew up on a farm near West Concord, Minnesota. She graduated from high school there in 1930 and attended State Teachers College in Winona, MN. She taught school for five years before moving to Nashua with her family in 1935. At that time she committed her life to God and has sought to serve him. She graduated from Northwestern Bible College in 1940 and served in rural mission work for two years.

In 1942, Genevieve was united in marriage to Dr. C. Kenneth Hanson and two sons were born to them. The family lived in Denver, CO for four years while Dr. Hanson served in the U. S. Army Air Force. They moved back to Nashua in 1946. In 1957, Genevieve returned to college and earned her B.A. Degree at Wartburg and an M. A. Degree from the University of Northern Iowa. She also did post graduate studies at the University of Vienna in Austria. She taught high school English and German in Plainfield for 20 years. Dr. Hanson died in 1977 and Genevieve retired the following year. Not liking retirement, in 1982, she went to the Philippine Islands as a volunteer and taught in a Christian high school in Manila for five years. In 2000 she sold her home in Nashua and moved into the assisted living facility at Bartel’s Lutheran Retirement Community in Waverly.

She was a member of the Baptist Church in Nashua and taught Sunday school for many years. She later attended the Wesleyan Church in Charles City, Genevieve enjoyed reading, gardening, quilting and traveling. She especially enjoyed traveling with her grandchildren.

She is survived by her two sons, Richard (Frieda) Hanson of Cedar Rapids and Dr. Wayne (Estee) Hanson of Chicago; three grandchildren, Sherry Haupt, Matthew Hanson and Jennifer Kilburg; two great-grandchildren, Zoe Hanson and Cyrus Kilburg; two sisters-in-law, Christine Hvitved and Florence Hanson of Greene.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Dr. C. K. Hanson in 1977; her parents; two brothers, Leonard and Niels Hvitved and a sister, Lillian Hvitved.