Herman R. Hansen M.D.

Dr. Herman R. Hansen, 98, passed away in Colorado Springs on April 24, 2020. He was born on the family farm in Audubon, Iowa to Herman and Helena (Hansen) Hansen, the fifth of eight children. His father was from Faaborg, Denmark and his mother from Flensburg, Germany.

By his late teens, Herman had become a skillful carpenter under the tutelage of his father, taking time off from school to learn his trade as they traveled together throughout Iowa, building many fine homes. Upon graduation from Audubon High School in 1941, he took a job with the Atlantic Lumber and Coal Company in Atlantic, Iowa, constructing barns and corn cribs for farmers and doing interior finish carpentry.

While on his break one day, a recruitment poster for radio communications training in the U.S. Army Reserve caught Herman’s eye in the Atlantic post office. He took the entrance exam on the spot and was subsequently trained in radio and pre-radar at the University of Iowa. In 1943, he entered active duty with the U.S. Army Signal Corps at Camp Kohler near Sacramento, where he was trained as a pole lineman before being sent to engineering school at the University of San Francisco.

He became a physician through a turn of world events, and at the behest of the U.S. Army. With World War II raging, and the expectation of a prolonged war with heavy casualties necessitating an adequate supply of physicians, enlistees in his unit were required to take a medical aptitude test. Up to this point, Herman had never considered a career in medicine, and in fact had only been to a doctor once in his life, for his military induction physical. He excelled on the test and set his sights on a career as an Army doctor, initially hoping to become an orthopedic surgeon because of its’ similarity to carpentry.

Through the Army Specialized Training Program, he was fast-tracked through pre-med studies at Stanford University. After the war suddenly ended in 1945, he was discharged from the Army and briefly returned to working as a carpenter in Iowa while considering his options. Six months later he entered the University of Colorado School of Medicine. There, he was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society and was an alumnus of the class of 1949.

Upon completing a rotating internship at Fitzsimons Army Hospital, Dr. Hansen married June Reid on June 29, 1950 at St. Philomena’s Catholic Church in Denver. One month later, he left for the Korean War where he served as Battalion Surgeon for the 2nd Infantry Division and received the Bronze Star for heroic achievement in a combat zone. He subsequently served at the Presidio of San Francisco; Ft. Hood, TX; Brooke Army Medical Center in Ft. Sam Houston, TX; the 97th General Hospital in Frankfurt, Germany; and Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. where he attained the rank of Colonel.

Upon choosing a specialty, the Army’s greatest need was for anesthesiologists, a field that Dr. Hansen embraced with aplomb. He was Chief of Anesthesiology at Walter Reed from 1967 through 1970. There, he directed a residency training program, conducted research in anesthesiology, and published extensively. Caring for former President Dwight D. Eisenhower at Walter Reed and accompanying him to California on Air Force One were highlights of his Army career. He also made numerous training films for military medical personnel at the Army Pictorial Center in New York City. On retirement from the Army, Dr. Hansen was awarded the Legion of Merit for exceptionally meritorious conduct.

In 1970 he joined Anesthesia Associates in Colorado Springs and was on the staff of Penrose, St. Francis, and Memorial Hospitals until his final retirement in 1997.

Dr. Hansen leaves his wife, June Reid Hansen of Austin, TX; his sons, Reid (Sheila) Hansen MD of Peoria, IL; Marcus Hansen of Colorado Springs; John (Laura) Hansen of Oceanside, CA; daughters Carol (Ron Dearden) Hansen of Wilbraham, MA; Laura (John) Delfeld of Austin, TX; nine grandchildren; three great-grandchildren and his dedicated caregiver, Tom Forsyth. He was predeceased by his parents and seven brothers and sisters.

Dr. Hansen has been laid to rest at Pikes Peak National Cemetery. In his memory, the Herman R. Hansen MD Endowed Medical Student Scholarship has been established at The University of Colorado in Denver.