Bessie Catherine Hansen

1915 ~ 2010

The children of Bessie Catherine McCarrel Hansen are saddened to announce her passing on September 15, 2010 from natural causes. She was 95 years old.

Bessie was born July 9, 1915 to George T. and Verlia McCarrel in Park City, Utah where her father worked in the mines. When she was three years old, the family moved to Salt Lake City. There she grew to adulthood. She attended South High School at the depths of the Great Depression but was obliged to quit before graduating. Instead, she went to work to augment family finances. The hardship of those years ingrained in her a work ethic she maintained all her life.

In September 1940, Bessie married Willis I. Hansen in Washington, D. C. Willis had begun a twenty-year career in the U. S. Navy in 1932, and until his retirement in 1952, Bessie and the children followed him from one duty station to another within the continental U. S.

Upon Willis’s retirement, the family moved home to Utah. They settled within the confines of the Valley View Stake in Salt Lake City where Bessie served in ward and stake primary organizations.

Bessie was fastidious in her dress and personal appearance and in the care of her home and children. Her home, although modest in size and conservatively furnished, was always immaculately clean and orderly. And she expected the same sense of order from her children.

She was quietly stern, almost unbending, and she was sparing with complements. But she was deeply proud and loyal toward her children and grandchildren. She was accomplished in oil painting, and needle work. She crocheted blankets for each grandchild as they were born and for each when they married, and subsequently for each great-grandchild when they came. Each Christmas she presented hand-made tree ornaments to every member of the family, a practice that continued uninterrupted for many years.

Bessie was employed by ZCMI for more than twenty years in the linen department.

She is survived by her children, Yvonne (Barton) Carter, Darrell George (Pat) Hansen, and Dr. David V. (Barbara) Hansen, Carol Ann (Glen) Niederman (daughter of Willis’s first wife), 18 grandchildren, and 44 great-grandchildren. She will be sorely missed.

The family expresses heartfelt appreciation to the management and staff of Attria Assisted Living and Inspiration Hospice for their kind, competent, and generous service in Bessie’s behalf.

Funeral services will be held at 12:00 noon, Saturday, September 18 at Wasatch Lawn Mortuary Chapel, 3401 Highland Drive with a viewing one hour prior to the service. Interment: Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park. Condolences may be sent to www.wasatchlawn.com