Thelma
L. Hanssen
Services
will be at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at First Presbyterian Church. The
Rev. Caroline Price-Gibson will officiate. Burial will be in the
Grand Island Cemetery.
Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday at All Faiths Funeral Home.
Mrs. Hanssen was born April 11, 1919, at Manilla, Iowa, to William Frederick
and Rena Jane (Corey) Gessmann.
Survivors of the immediate family include her husband, Norman; a son and daughter-in-law,
Richard and Cindy (Otto) Hanssen of Omaha; a son, William Hanssen of Lincoln;
and a sister, Evelyn Wenzel of Mountain Home, Ark.
Additional survivors include a grandson, Nik and wife, Lacy, Hanssen of Omaha;
a granddaughter, Heather Hanssen of Topeka, Kan.; a great-grandson, Wyat Hanssen;
brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, John and Sharon Hanssen of Grand Island,
Harold and Bonnie Hanssen of Doniphan; 14 nieces, 10 nephews, other relatives
and many friends.
Preceding Thelma in death are her parents, four sisters, a brother, two nieces
and a nephew.
She was raised on a farm west of Manilla, along with four sisters and a brother.
On the farm, in addition to a normal farming operation, purebred Percheron horses
were raised and sold. In 1929 the family purchased a home in Manilla so the children
could attend high school. Thelma played violin during her high school years.
Thelma graduated from Manilla High School in 1936.
In 1940, Thelma moved to Orange County, Calif. She was employed by the Van de
Kamps Bakery chain in southern California. Thelma was united in marriage with
Norman Willard Hanssen of Grand Island on Nov. 8, 1942, in Las Vegas. Norman
was in the Army Air Corps, stationed in California at the time. During that time
in the Army Air Corps. they were based at Merced, Victorville, bases in Tucson,
El Paso, Lincoln and other places. Thelma was able to get civilian jobs wherever
they were stationed. Oftentimes, she worked in civilian supply.
Two sons were born from this marriage. The couple moved to Grand Island in 1951,
residing with Norman's parents on the family farm south of the city. They then
moved to a basement home on the south side of Stolley Park. They later moved
to the original Hanssen homestead site south of the city.
Thelma was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Grand Island. In addition
to homemaking, she worked alongside her husband, Norman, in the family business.
Thelma enjoyed needlework, crocheting, knitting, crafts, for a time rock collecting,
doll collecting, playing cards and china collecting. They were for several years
members of a Champion Camping Group.
Memorials are suggested to the Lymphoma Association or Cancer Treatment Center
in Omaha.