On August 8th, my Grandpa Hansen passed away. He meant a lot to me and here was what I shared at his Memorial.
August 16th 2008
John Preston Hansen
Just the name brings a specific “qualities” to my mind. As his granddaughter, I observed and was the recipient of my grandpa’s:
- Strength – My grandpa was always a formidable force to me, a rock, someone to count on. As his health started to fail, it was difficult for me see grandpa in that light, to me he was and still is the grandpa who did it all.
- Devotion – His devotion to grandma and his family, made me want to find a husband who had those same qualities. He may not have always worn his devotion on his sleeve, but often as grandma was stating with pride what their children and granddaughters were doing, you could sneak a peek at grandpa’s face and see the same pride written there as well.
- Ethics – One always knew how Grandpa felt about things. He was never one to beat around the bush or worry about how something he said would be seen or thought of by another. Grandpa voiced his beliefs and let the chips fall as they may. This created tension between people at times, but ultimately you knew where you stood with Grandpa.
- Care – Grandpa cared for his family, for his country, and for the community in which he and grandma lived. There was one summer that I was working in Susanville at a summer camp and I didn’t have a car. My parents were out of town and I was extremely homesick. I called grandpa and grandma and asked if they would come and get me so that I could come home for the weekend. Their response to this request was “We’ll be there in 2 hours”. I knew I could always count on them to be there for me. Once I moved away to Montana, every conversation with Grandpa, would include him asking me how my job was, how my horses were doing (an interest we both shared) and how things were going with my house. He was always genuinely interested in my life.
- Patriotism – There has never been a doubt in my mind, where Grandpa stood when it came to how he felt about his country, the armed forces and freedom.
- Gentle – I will always remember the first time I saw Grandpa cry and I know that there were certain things that were always close to Grandpa’s heart - Grandma, his family and tradition. One time I mentioned what a handsome couple he and Grandma were. Grandpa became teary eyed and just grinned. One day, Grandpa was showing me the brand that used to be the Phipps family brand and he was telling me the names of the generations that might have used the brand. The names were Preston…, and … Preston. Over and over I heard the name Preston and so I stopped Grandpa and said “I guess I didn’t realize what a family tradition the name ‘Preston’ is.” “So, I guess I will just have to name one of my future sons Preston to carry on the family tradition?!” Again, Grandpa teared up and said “I guess so.”
As you can probably tell, my Grandpa, John Preston Hansen has been one important and influential man in my life. I wish each and every one of my cousins could have experienced Grandpa in the way I got to, but I know that each granddaughter no matter how much time they were able to spend with him, had a special place in Grandpa’s heart.
Grandpa, you will be sorely missed, but I trust that you are right now keeping Mommy company and that I will see you again someday.
