Buddy Hanson

Buddy Hanson
TUSCALOOSA - Buddy Hanson, age 76, went to be with the Lord on September 17, 2018, following a cardiac arrest on September 7, from which he never regained consciousness. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, September 19, 2018, at Riverwood Presbyterian Church in Tuscaloosa. Visitation will begin at 10 a.m.
Buddy was born Raphael Andrew Hanson, III on December 19, 1941 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He lived a full life, and was much loved by his family and friends. Buddy was filled with creativity, a positive outlook, and a boldness for doing something new.
In 1955, when he was just 14 years old, he convinced Bert Bank at WTBC in Tuscaloosa to let him become one of the first (he always said he was the first), rock/R&B DJ's in Alabama to play music by predominantly black artists. His show became very popular, and morphed into the ""All Night Satellite"" when he was in high school and college.
Buddy was a great baseball player, drafted to play 2nd base by the Cleveland Indians after his freshman year at Alabama, during which he hit .630 on the freshman team (freshman would not become eligible to play on the varsity team until 1967). When he came back to Alabama to finish his degree, since he could no longer play baseball on scholarship, he asked Coach Bryant if he could be on scholarship as an assistant coach to Joe Sewell on the baseball team. Nothing like that had been done before in the SEC, but Coach Bryant agreed. From 1963-67, Buddy was an infield coach for Joe Sewell; and the team he helped to recruit and coach won the SEC in 1968.
Despite those noteworthy experiences of his youth, Buddy would much rather be remembered for his accomplishments later in life. He became a Christian in his early 30's, and completely changed his priorities. He became interested in theology, and how to make it applicable and understandable. His family rarely ever saw him without a Bible or some other Christian book, a notebook, and a pen in his hand. He wrote constantly, which he said helped him to learn, and he would eventually author 10 published books, and numerous unpublished manuscripts, each on applying Christianity to our daily lives.
Buddy was preceded in death by his wife of 47 years, Wanda Hanson (cancer, November 2013), and by his parents, Mary Frances and Raphael Andrew Hanson, Jr.
He is survived by his wife, Sandra Patterson Hanson; younger brother, John Hanson (Julie Clifford); and by his two children and seven grandchildren: Drew Hanson (Andrew and John), and Mary Katharine and Lt. Col. Richard Davenport (Hanson Ellis, Parker, Patterson, Kate, and Olivia).
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that a donation in his name be made to the Riverwood Presbyterian Church Building Fund -Tuscaloosa, Alabama.