Helen Hanson

Helen Adelia Lofgren Hanson died March 7, 2012 at Touchmark Residence in Fargo, N.D. She was born on September 22, 1923 in Duluth, MN, the oldest child of Nannie Johnson and Elmer Lofgren. When she was still a baby they moved back to the Lofgren farm on the future site of Moose Lake State Park. Many of her happiest adventures were during the first 12 years of her life when she lived on Pickerel Lake, close to her beloved Swedish grandma, Sophia. Helen graduated from Moose Lake High School in 1941. She met University of Minnesota Ag student, Robert "Bob" Hanson from Hector, MN, while working in the Twin Cities and they were married in 1948. She was the center of family life, caring for their three children and supporting Bob's professional moves from Danube to Morris to Moorhead to Winona, where he was President of Winona State University before an aneurysm forced his early retirement. Helen and Bob moved back to the Fargo-Moorhead area in 1985. Helen was a spirited woman who loved to travel with Bob, yet most enjoyed time at the lake with family, just as she had as a little girl. She was passionate about politics, recycling, home cooking, gardening, animal rights, public tv/radio and the arts. She was also devoted to family and friends, some of whom were cats – all of whom were well-fed. Helen was preceded in death by her parents, her brother, Lloyd, her husband, Bob, who died in 2006 and her beloved cat, Emma Louise. She is survived by her sons, Steven Carri Lohse, Hugo, MN and Philip Cynthia Herfindahl, Fargo; daughter, Peggy Martin Hynes, Northfield, MN; granddaughter, Diana Hanson, Fargo; siblings, Charles Lofgren, Miami, FL and Audrey Harlan Brose, East Hartland, CT, sister-in-law, Delores Lofgren, Stewartville, MN; aunt, Doris Johnson, Minneapolis; and cousins, nieces and nephews. The family is very grateful to the caring individuals from Touchmark, Home Instead and Hospice of the Red River Valley who added immeasurably to the quality of Helen's life towards its end. Memorials are preferred to Hospice of the Red River Valley.