Gary Hanson

FUNERAL SERVICES : Private GARY C. HANSONJanuary 7, 1945 ~ August 14, 2012 Gary C. Hanson, age 67 of Park Rapids, passed away on Tuesday, August 14, 2012 at the Heritage Cottages in Park Rapids. Gary Clifford Hanson was born January 7, 1945 in Atlanta, Georgia, the only child of H. Clifford and Frances (Summer) Hanson. Gary was confirmed in 1958 at Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in Atlanta. He attended public schools in Atlanta, and graduated from Murphy High School in 1963. Gary then attended DeKalb Area Technical School in Atlanta, graduating in 1965 with a degree in electronic technology. For the next ten years Gary worked for Western Electric Company as a systems equipment engineer in the twelve state area once comprising the former Southern Bell Company. In 1975 Gary moved to the Park Rapids area with his parents upon his father"s retirement as an engineer for WAGA-TV in Atlanta. Gary returned to school in 1978 at Bemidji State University. He attended BSU as a full and part-time student while working a variety of jobs in the area, including interim positions with Hubbard County Highway Department, M&O Farms and Universal Frozen Foods. Gary received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from BSU in 1984 and a Bachelor of Science degree in secondary education (social studies-history concentration) in 1990. Gary enjoyed hiking, fishing and boating at the family cabin in Georgia, and after moving to Minnesota he continued to enjoy outdoor activities on his Crow Wing Chain property and his parent"s home near the Straight River. Other interests included reading, gardening and collecting stamps, coins and glassware. Gary connected two of his passions, writing and bottle collecting, with the publication in 1971 of "The Handbook of American Bottles", which is still bought and sold on Amazon and other internet book sites. Gary was a longtime member of MENSA, and had a quick wit and an easy smile. He enjoyed his family"s annual trip to visit the Minnesota relatives in Benson and Glenwood while living in Georgia, and later welcomed those relatives to his family"s new home in Hubbard County. Gary is survived by an uncle, Vernon Hanson of Glenwood, Minnesota; an aunt, Ann Summer of Georgia; and many cousins throughout the U.S. He was preceded in death by his father Clifford in 2000 and his mother Frances in 2004, both while residing in Park Rapids. Gary"s Minnesota family would like to thank the staff at Heritage Cottages, where Gary most recently lived, and extend a special thanks to friends and neighbors Renee and Tod Becker, for the care and neighborliness provided the Hanson family over the years. A graveside service will be held later this fall at the Benson City Cemetery, Benson, Minnesota.