S. Joan Hanson
RONAN — Sylvia Joan Hanson passed away on Aug. 24, 2021. She was born on Oct. 21, 1934, in Lincoln, Nebraska, to Leonard and Jean Britton Tiensvold. She was welcomed by her older sister Margaret. By the time the family left Rushville, Nebraska, for Montana, her brother Lyle was born.
The family went to Columbia Falls, where Leonard was hired on the WPA to build road. A year later they bought a cherry orchard across from Yellow Bay State Park.
Joan graduated from Polson High School at 16 and started nurses’ training at St. Patrick’s Hospital. In the last year of training, she met Delbert Hanson, who was an airplane mechanic apprentice at Johnson-Bell Airport. He was the brother of her best friend, Sally Hanson. Nursing students weren’t allowed to marry until they graduated, so after graduation in June, Joan and Del were married on Aug. 28, 1955 at Yellow Bay Clubhouse. While both working in Missoula, they welcomed their first and second child.
They tried their hand at cherry farming, but soon went back to nursing and logging. The next four kids came along every two years for a total of six children, as Joan had always wanted.
After many years of being a traveling nurse seeing the sights of the western states, she retired and spent two great years with Del before he passed.
As the years passed, she and her sister lived together and spent many a morning drinking coffee, playing rummy, and reading good books.
Joan is survived by her sister, Margaret Olmstead, of Plains; her sister in-laws, Nancy Tiensvold of Yellow Bay and Jo Hanson of Plains; her children, Leslie Heppe (Ed) of Superior, Mark Hanson (Lois) of Plains, Aaron Hanson (Maxine) of Charlo, Della Daugherty (Dan) of Charlo, Denise Montgomery (Lee) of Gillette, Wyoming, and Calvin Hanson (Candi) of Spokane, Washington. She is also survived by 16 grandchildren and 31 great-grandchildren.
Joan was preceded in death by her grandsons, Luke Hanson and Brandon Montgomery.
In lieu of flowers please make a donation to Shriners Children’s Hospital.
Services have been held.
