Mary Ann Hansen

Mary was born on April 29, 1933 in Flint, Michigan, the fifth of six children to Paul and Bernice Waskevich. She was preceded in death by her parents, her brothers Paul and Thomas, sister Dorothy, and her beloved husband Arthur.

Mary graduated from All Saints High School in Flint, Michigan, as the valedictorian of the class of 1951. After graduation, Mary went to work for Buick Motors as an executive secretary. She remained with Buick for eight years before deciding to pursue what she thought was her life's calling; the religious life as a Sister of St. Joseph. Mary's strong faith and devotion to serving others led her to pursue a life in the convent. However, before she finished her first year of candidacy, a year full of prayer and study, and before taking any "vows", Mary realized this was not the path for her. So in the fall of 1960, along with several lifelong girlfriends, Mary left the convent, took a different leap of faith, and headed out west to California. She settled in the San Francisco Bay Area close to her two brothers Thomas and Paul, who also had both previously relocated to California. She first worked as a secretary at Lockheed then eventually landed an executive secretary position at Hewlett Packard in Palo Alto. It was in Palo Alto, at a Sierra Club party, where Mary met the love of her life, Arthur Hansen. Arthur coincidentally had been working at Lockheed, just down the street from Hewlett Packard on Page Mill Road in Palo Alto. After many lunch dates on Page Mill Road and several years of dating, Mary and Arthur married in 1968 at St. Nicholas Catholic Church in Los Altos.

Arthur and Mary settled in Los Altos and had four children; Stephen, Matthew, Kristine, and Nickolas. Mary was a homemaker and dedicated wife and mother. Always generous with her time, Mary was well known for welcoming anyone into her home who stopped by. There was always something fresh coming out of the oven; cookies, pies, cakes, breads, dumplings, or whatever your sweet tooth desired. No guest ever left the house hungry. Mary was a very active member of St. Simon Catholic Church and School in Los Altos. She was one of the original "soccer moms"…shuttling her kids to every activity possible. As the children grew up and the house became empty, Arthur and Mary opened the doors of their home to exchange students from all over the world and many nephews and nieces. As the years passed, Mary cherished receiving Christmas cards, wedding invitations, birth announcements, and just news in general from the many students that had lived under her roof.

After her husband retired from Lockheed in the mid-1990s, Mary went back to school and completed her Associate of Arts degree from De Anza College in Cupertino.

Mary and Arthur then traveled to the many places they had always dreamed of visiting together: Europe, British Columbia, the South Pacific, among many others. Tahoe was a favorite place of theirs and many weekends were either spent golfing, eating at their favorite restaurants, or enjoying the snow.

Family was and always continued to be the focus of her life. She was so proud of her children and their accomplishments. She was a devoted grandmother and cherished every moment she had with her young grandchildren. A few years after Arthur's death in 2012, Mary moved down to the San Diego area to be closer to her grandchildren. She spent the final five years of her life at Oakmont of Escondido Hills, an assisted living and memory care facility. Mary was diagnosed with Alzheimer's/Dementia a few years after Arthur passed and although it robbed her of her memory, it did not take away her fun-loving spirit, her kindness toward everyone, nor did it take away her zest for life. She was the life of the party. She lit up every room she walked into. As a wonderful wife, mother, sister, grandmother, and friend, Mary saw the goodness in everyone she met and she enriched the lives of all those she came in touch with. She loved being a grandmother; even when she became physically unable to attend her grandchildren's various games and outings, she made it a point to be up to date on all their activities. Mary overcame a very tough bout with Covid in early 2021. She fought it like the tough woman that she was. We are so thankful for the care staff at Oakmont that carried her through that very tough time in our family's life. We are also thankful for the care and compassion provided by Vitas Hospice in our mom's final weeks.

We will miss drinking cheap Sangrias by the pool with her. We will miss her insisting McDonald's coffee was better than Starbucks. She was one-of-a-kind. She was loved by so many and we were so blessed to have her in our lives. She will be dearly missed.

Mary is survived by her two sisters, Virginia (Wes) and Lucille (Mence, deceased); and her four children and their spouses: Stephen and Emi Hansen, Matthew and Jennifer Hansen, Kristine and Keith Latson, and Nickolas Hansen; eight grandchildren:

Dane, Jana, Jeanine, Janelle, and Jenae Hansen; Bridger and Davis Latson; and Chandler Nolan; and many nieces and nephews.

A celebration of her life will be held in the summer.

In lieu of flowers or gifts, we will be setting up a fund in memory of Mary at the high school which several of her grandchildren attend, San Pasqual High School in Escondido. The fund will be directed to the Boy's Golf and Girl's Field Hockey programs; sports that have had a direct impact on two of her grandchildren.

Checks can be made out to SPHS ABC (Athletic Booster Club), and mailed to PO Box 301154, Escondido, CA 92030; attn Matt Hansen.