William O. Hansen

William Otto Hansen, 91, passed away Tuesday, June 24, 2014 in The Moorings Health Center at Arlington Heights, Illinois. Bill was born August 5,1922 in Watseka, Illinois to William Hansen and Emma (Luedtke) Hansen. Traveling was to become a lifelong passion for Bill and it started as he took two Atlantic voyages with his family. The first at age 3 on the Oscar II to Denmark & France in 1925. The second voyage on the Fredrick VIII at the age of 13 to his father's native Denmark. Bill Sr. arrived in the U.S.A. in 1909 at the age of 21 and spoke only Danish. After high school Bill enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps and attained the rank of Master Sergeant. He served during World War II from 1943-1945 in the Pacific theater (Including New Guinea, Australia, and Japan). After the war he returned home to work in the family business as a mechanic at the Ford dealership in Watseka, IL. In 1945 he met his wife Lura Elizabeth (Betty) Horton and they were married in 1947. Bill loved aviation and he got his first job working at the airport in Kankakee, IL. That same year his first child Catherine Victoria (Cate Carter) Hansen was born. Next the family moved to East St. Louis, IL where Bill worked at the McDonnell Douglas Aircraft Company. He attended and graduated from Parks Air College at St. Louis University in 1950. In 1955 his second child. Rex Brian Hansen, was born in East St. Louis. The family then moved back to Watseka, IL where Bill started his own business as a Ford Tractor Dealer. He was able to buy his second single engine plane, a Cessna 140 tail dragger, and fly recreationally. Bill closed his tractor business in 1958 and got a job with American Airlines in Chicago at O'Hare Field. He commuted for 2 years and then moved the family to Arlington Heights, IL in 1964. He retired from American Airlines in 1987 after 28 years of service. In retirement, Betty & Bill traveled regularly on automobile trips and in Bill's Cessna 152. Then Betty passed away in 1995 and Bill spent his days traveling hunting for new books on aviation. He loved to read and spent many hours in search of a new aviation adventure story. His library grew to several hundred books. He continued to live independently until age 82 when he was struck by a stoke that paralyzed his left arm and leg. After recuperation he moved to The Moorings Health Center where he led an active life becoming a member of the community getting elected as Vice-President and then President of the Health Center's Senior Club. Bill was preceded in death by his parents; Betty, and his brother. Warren Hansen. He is survived by his daughter, Cate Carter (Hansen), his son. Rex Hansen and wife Pamela, and two grandsons, Dane and Brett Hansen. Visitation will be held Friday, June 27, 2014, from 4 pm till 7 pm at Lauterburg & Oehler Funeral Home, 2000 E. Northwest Highway, Arlington Heights, IL, where a funeral service will be held Saturday, June 28, at 11 am. Graveside services will be held at the Oak Hill Cemetery, just East of Watseka, IL.