Tim Hanson

Still, after several years, Tim is my best friend. My screensaver remains a picture of two young, wide eyed guys standing in a villa by the Agean Sea thinking they were the luckiest two dudes on the planet. I´ll always remember Tim "Joel" as he was, the Renaissance man. Will always miss you, Buddy.

Seriously, five years today? You have not been forgotten, Tim, and never will be. Still miss you as much, good friend.

It’s hard to believe it’s been four years. As I putter around the house, my eyes land on all the memories; that’s Dimitri’s wedding gift, those are “special” rocks, those pictures came from my birthday trip to New Orleans on Amtrak, that’s the garden I created in his honor, that was his favorite picture of Joel and Camille, those are the plants that came from his childhood home in Akron, that’s a drink stirrer from our honeymoon, that’s the chair where he always sat at the kitchen table,...

It was the winter of 1977 during a meeting at Kent State University that I met Tim Hanson. Little did I know that it was the beginning of a lifelong friendship, a friendship different from any other. The meeting was for five fortunate students who had been selected to participate in an archaeological excavation in Episkopi, Cyprus for the coming summer. We would end up spending two seasons on the dig (1977 and 1978). Tim and I bonded immediately over the prospect of fulfilling lifelong...

When I think of Tim, I immediately go back to the carefree years of high school and the always so welcoming Hanson household. With all of the chaos I'm sure we brought he was always so welcoming and inviting, and boy did he make sure we always had wonderful goodies to munch and eat on. His love for others was so apparent, bold, and admired.

-"Why do all of the best people die?"
-"Because when you are in a garden which flowers do you pick?"
-"The most beautiful ones."

Sandy and Camille, while I didn't know Tim, I prayed for him an awful lot! I know you had been grieving for some time prior to his passing certain losses but saying good bye, well, I can only imagine. While there are times for sorrow there will also be times for great joy and gratitude. May God keep you and reveal His heart is for you during this time.

Even though many of us in this room are strangers to each other we were not strangers to Tim. Tim was never a stranger to anyone he met no matter where or when. There is one thing I know about all of you gathered here today. I know that you have never met a bigger man than Tim. He wasn't so very big in physical stature, but he was a GIANT in so many other ways. He was a man of giant vision. He was a man of giant intellect. He was a man of giant ideas and passion and ability.
I'll never...

Prayers for you Sandy, Joel and Camille. Tim was a gift in so many ways. May you have peace.

The Hansons house is were you could find me on any weekend throughout middle school. Tim was always so kind and understanding with all the shananagins Camille and I would get into. He always had a smile on his face and wise words to give us. Tim and the family will always be in my heart as some of my first real family friends in Charlotte.