Carol Hanson

Carol Janet Hanson, 83, of Missoula, Mont., peacefully passed away at her residence on October 17, 2018.

She was born in 1934, as the first of five siblings to Rex and Dorothy Chase, in Potlatch, Idaho. She grew up in Palouse, although there were brief periods of time where her family moved to Texas and Olympia, Wash. Her younger siblings include Victor Chase (deceased), Lee Chase, Roberta Church and Margaret Decker.

She married her high school sweetheart, George Hanson on March 7, 1952. They lived in Garfield, Wash., where they raised five children. She excelled at canning and baking for her family and friends. She loved playing cards, especially bridge and pinochle. She also taught her children and grandchildren how to play cribbage and never passed up the chance to prove her skills. She was very skilled at picture puzzles which she would put out on a card table at family events and challenge everyone to finish the puzzle before the days end. She was an excellent seamstress and made clothes for her family, not to mention the high school cheerleader's outfits and formals. Not wanting to waste a moment's time, she also knitted sweaters, stocking hats and mittens for her family and friends while riding in the car or watching television. Later in life, she became an accomplished quilt maker and made several beautiful quilts for all of her family. She enjoyed square-dancing, round-dancing, camping and lake trips where she could go boating with the family.

Early in her marriage, she took on several odd jobs to help care for her family. She cleaned houses, and did people's laundry and ironing. When her youngest child became school age, she began to work out of the home at Miller's IGA in Garfield, where she worked her way up to Assistant Manager. In 1976, she and George sponsored a foreign exchange student from Sweden, Stefan Simander. When her children were out of school, she began working at Washington State University for Ferdinand's. Later, she worked there at the Conferences and Institute's Department. She sold Lund's Lites candles where she was the national high salesperson two times and earned vacation trips to Hawaii. She enjoyed traveling, including additional trips to Alaska, Nevada, California, Louisiana, Iowa, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennesee, Texas, the New England states, Europe and Honduras. She was known to be a hard worker and perfectionist at everything she did. Her focus in life was her family, and she did whatever it took to provide her children with a better life.

She was preceded in death by both her parents; one brother; her husband of 47 years, George; and one grandson. Following her husband's death, she relocated to Missoula, Mont., to live near her daughter, Yvonne.

Survivors include her son, Virgil Hanson (Palouse, Wash.), daughter, Yvonne and Don Nelson (Lolo, Mont.), son, Rex and Debbie Hanson (Peosta, Iowa), son, Donald and Fanny Hanson (Spokane, Wash.), and son, Robert and Brenda Hanson (Whitefish, Mont.). She had 16 grandchildren and 23 great-grandchildren.

A memorial service is scheduled at the Garfield Community Church at 11:00 AM on November 10, 2018.