Willis Dale Hanson

Willis Dale Hanson passed into eternal rest Wednesday, April 20, 2016 at the Mexico Veterans Home. Visitation will be from 10am – 12pm on April 30, 2016 at Memorial Funeral Home followed by services at 12:00 pm with the Rev. Robert Cook officiating. Burial with military honors will follow in Memorial Park Cemetery.

Willis was born in Omaha, NE on July 23, 1926 to Selmer Hoover Hanson and Grace Vodicka Hanson. After his mother’s death he and his sister, Margit lived in South Dakota and Missouri. He graduated from Meadville High School in 1944 and enlisted in the US Navy. He trained as ordinance air crew on the PBY flying boat in Jacksonville, FL, then as an aviator at the Corpus Christi Naval Air Station, receiving his wings in Pensacola, FL. He deployed to the Pacific in 1947 with Utility Squadron 9. He served in Tsingtao China, Guam and Tokyo.

In 1950, Willis married Alma Lorraine Mitchell in Corpus Christi. After their honeymoon in Mexico City they moved to Columbia where Willis attended MU. He earned a masters degree in wildlife biology and began a 33 year career as a fisheries research biologist for the MO Department of Conservation. He was a Phi Beta Kappa Society member. In 1956 he and Alma moved to Hallsville where they raised their family.

Willis had many interests and hobbies including model airplanes, gardening, bird watching, hunting, fishing, scuba diving and MU football. He loved nature and taught his daughters to love it as well. He was a devoted loving husband and father and active church member serving as a deacon and Bible teacher. His sincerest desire was that all would receive the free gift of eternal life in Jesus Christ and was always ready to give reason for that blessed hope.

Willis was preceded in death by his parents, sister, and wife and is survived by daughters, Brenda Hanson and Laura Hanson. The family would like to express deep gratitude for the superior quality care he received from the compassionate attentive staff at the Mexico Veterans Home. Memorials are suggest to the Veterans Home or ministry of choice.