Concetta Marie Hansell

Concetta (Raiti) Hansell

(December 21, 1937 – December 2, 2025)

Concetta (Connie) Raiti Hansell, beloved wife, daughter, mother, grandmother, sister and friend, passed peacefully into the loving arms of the Lord on December 2, 2025. Connie was born in Philadelphia, PA on December 21, 1937. She was the pride and joy of her parents, Anna Sergi Raiti and Joseph Raiti and spent her childhood years with her younger siblings Joseph, Frank and Marie in Reading, Pennsylvania. Proud of her Italian heritage, she spent holidays with her extensive family around a bountiful table of delicious food, animated conversation, and love. A 1960 graduate of Temple University with a BS in Journalism, Connie met the love of her life, William (Bill) Hansell Jr., at a John Paul Neumann Association event in Philadelphia. Connie was working for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and Bill was serving his term as President of the National Neumann Association. They had a whirlwind love story and were engaged within 9 months and married in September 1961. They settled in the Lehigh Valley where Bill served as the Allentown City Manager and both were active in the civic and arts community there. Connie and Bill celebrated over 51 years of marriage and had a lasting love built on trust, partnership and mutual respect. 

Connie worked as a public relations and marketing specialist for the Catholic Charities Appeal, the Pennsylvania Stage Company, Dunn and Bradstreet, Modern Maturity Magazine and National Public Radio. At NPR, Connie was thrilled to work with Cokie Roberts, Linda Wertheimer, and Nina Totenberg, and extremely proud to be a part of the NPR team. Connie loved the arts and spent countless hours as a dedicated volunteer and board member at the Allentown Art Museum, the Baum School of Art, the Pennsylvania Stage Company and Shepherd Hills Dinner Theatre where she and Bill co-produced an annual array of musical theatre productions for over seven years.  Connie chaired the Baum School of Art Craft show for many years and helped to build the school’s scholarship fund.  An expert entertainer and cook, Connie was a proud co-editor of  Culinary Arts, the premiere cookbook for the Allentown Art Museum. Connie and Bill loved entertaining in their homes in Allentown, PA, Arlington, VA and St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands. They warmly welcomed friends, family, and neighbors and thoroughly enjoyed good conversation, political discourse, food, wine, and laughter. 

Connie and Bill were blessed to travel extensively through Bill’s career as Executive Director of the International City and County Management Association.  In retirement, they cruised around the world fostering many international friendships. Nothing made Connie happier than her role as mother to Jeanne and Bill and grandmother to her six grandchildren: Katie, Will, Lauren, Connor, Gabriel and Wes. She enjoyed visits with them in Connecticut and California  and the opportunity to see them grow. Connie is survived by William H. Hansell III and his partner Angela Seita, Jeanne Hansell Robertson and her husband Michael Robertson; her grandchildren Katharine Leigh Robertson, William H. Hansell IV, Lauren Grace Robertson, Connor Michael Robertson, Gabriel Oliver Hansell, and Wes Alden Hansell; her brother and sister-in- law Frank and Stephanie Raiti, her brother and sister-in-law Raymond and Mary Sue Hansell, and her sister-in-law Susanne Hansell as well as many nieces, nephews, cousins and friends. She was predeceased by her husband William H. Hansell Jr., her parents Anna and Joseph Raiti, her sister Marie Green, brother Joseph, brother-in-law David and parents-in-law Alice and William Hansell. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in Connie’s name to the Baum School of Art or the Allentown Art Museum in Allentown, PA. A celebration of life will be held at a later date.