Howard Carl Hansen

1922 - 2017

Howard Carl Hansen passed on to Heaven on November 24, 2017. He was the younger of the two sons of John and Lois Hansen. He was born May 29, 1922, in Chandler, Arizona. His family later moved to Mesa, where Howard grew up. After graduating from high school, Howard became a machinist. The United States entered into World War II, and Howard enlisted in the Army. He was trained to be a pilot, and then became a flight instructor in the Army Air Corp, training future pilots on the B-17 (the "Flying Fortress"). Following the war, Howard became a farmer. Years later, Howard then became a carpenter. While working as a carpenter, Howard also built a trailer park in Yuma.

It was after his setting up his trailer park that Howard was able to do what he liked to do the most (and which he said he was the best at) – go fishing. For about thirty-five years, Howard went fishing every day, and some times twice a day. He fished the river, lakes and canals of Yuma, and he fished in the Gulf. Howard and his wife, Clarice, spent the summer months in Montana, where everyday he fished the lakes, rivers and creeks around the Continental Divide.

Howard used the fishing as a way to make others feel happy and welcome, often taking people out fishing that were new to the Yuma area. Howard and his wife also loved to dance, going out almost every evening until their bodies could not keep up with that schedule – so, in the later years, they had to reduce their dancing to two or three times a week. Howard loved life, he loved adventure, and most of all he loved doing things with his wife. He made the world a better place, and he will be deeply missed.

Howard is survived by his loving wife, Clarice Amelia Hansen. And, Howard has one son, Barry Dickerson, two daughters, Lois Hansen and Helen Franklin, and a step-son, Phil Noland. Howard has six grandchildren, ten step-grandchildren, and two great grandchildren.

The grave-side services for Howard will be on Saturday, December 9, 2017, at 10:00 a.m., at the Desert Lawn Memorial Park,1415 S 1st Avenue in Yuma.