Leo Hanna

November 20, 1936 to August 4, 2021

An amazing husband, father, grandpa, brother, uncle, and loyal friend Leo Hanna, passed away August 4, 2021. He was 84. Over the past few years Leo battled Parkinson's disease and decreasing mobility with humility and grace. He never complained and throughout this trial managed to show love and appreciation for his wife Pat and family. His family was blessed to spend many special moments with him over the last few years, especially during his last days as he passed away peacefully exactly when a family reunion was in progress. He was surrounded by almost all of his grandchildren in his final days.

A huge void has been left in the lives of his wife Patricia Ruby Zollinger Hanna to whom he was married for 59 years. It is also deeply felt by his three children: Cynthia, Eric, and Sean and their spouses, twenty grandchildren and two great grandchildren as well as his daughter in law Elif whose husband Mike preceded his father in death. Leo will be laid to rest next to Mike at the Pacific View Mortuary in Corona del Mar, not far from his home.

Leo was born on November 20, 1936, to Ivan Michael Hanna and Hallie Simmons Depue near Cabin Creek, West Virginia. He was the 3rd child and youngest in his family. He had two older siblings, Mary Anne and Hal who have also preceded him in death.

He attended schools in Charleston, W. Va., Amesville, Ohio, Huntington Park Ca., and graduated from Venice High School in Los Angeles. He also attended UCLA and graduated from Brigham Young University. Further education took place at the Merrill Lynch executive training program, considered by many to be equivalent to an MBA.

Leo grew up in West Virginia until the 4th grade when he moved to Sharpsburg, Ohio. There he lived with his maternal grandparents until he was 10 years old at which time he and his mother moved to Los Angeles. His sister had married and moved there, and they lived with her briefly before finding their own place in East Los Angeles. There he developed an interest in speaking Spanish, which he mastered and was fluent in his whole life.

After graduating from BYU in 1959 he spent several months traveling alone around Europe, working at various odd jobs along the way. He ended up in Germany where he enlisted in the Army and was ultimately assigned to Schofield Barracks on Oahu in the lovely state of Hawai’i. There he met and fell in love with the prettiest teacher at the Church College of Hawaii (now BYU Hawaii). They were married in the Laie Hawaii Temple in March 1962 and moved to Mar Vista where he had been offered a job as a "Detail Man" selling pharmaceuticals for the firm of Parke, Davis & Co. They bought a small home and promptly had two children within two years.

His hobbies included classic cars, motorcycles, investing in real estate, and boating. He decided to make his hobby of investing in the stock market his profession and joined the firm of Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Beane in 1966. After three cycles of boom-and-bust economic swings, two more children and a move to Newport Beach in 1972, he adventured into real estate as a new profession in 1978. with the Newport Beach office of Wesley N. Taylor Co.

There he learned the ideals of the commercial and industrial real estate markets, just in time to catch the end of the biggest boom in real estate since the 20's and the beginning of the biggest real estate recession since the 30's. Still learning new and exciting concepts, he ventured further into the field by forming his own company to test some new ideas of real estate marketing. He named his firm Adam Smith Realtors® after the author of "The Wealth of Nations" who provided a basis for our economic system. He specialized in shopping center management in Little Saigon in Westminster and Garden Grove, making many friends in the Vietnamese community.

Leo was humbly proud to have thirteen Eagle Scouts among his sons, grandsons, and grandsons-in-law. He is equally proud of his daughter, sons, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter who all earned Master of Business Administration degrees from MIT, UCLA, UC Berkeley, UC Irvine, and Pepperdine respectively.

Active in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints all his life since his baptism as a teenager, Leo served in many callings, including High Councilman, Seventies Group Leader, Temple Veil Worker, High Priests first assistant, Ward Clerk, Primary teacher, Ward Mission Leader, senior missionary and many more.

In 2000 he responded to a challenge from his son to serve a senior mission, which he and Pat magnified, not just for 18 months, but for 19 years. They served in the Garden Grove Vietnamese Branch of the Garden Grove Stake (later the Huntington Beach Stake), making many dear friends, and serving faithfully in many callings and as home and visiting teachers.

Leo enjoyed success in his profession and received many recognitions throughout his life, but his greatest accomplishment was his family. He demonstrated many Christlike attributes and was a great example to family.

Leo is survived by his loving wife Pat, his three children Cynthia Patricia Kofford (Greg), Eric Leonard Hanna (Dolly), Sean Campbell Hanna (Tracy), daughter- in-law Elif (Michael), twenty grandchildren, and 2 great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents, sister Mary Anne, brother Hal, son Michael, and grandson Simon.

A funeral will be held on Saturday, August 14th at the Newport Beach Stake Center of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 2150 Bonita Canyon Dr, Newport Beach, CA at 10 a.m. Pacific time.

For those unable to attend the funeral in person you can watch live by clicking on "Join live Stream" below in the Service box or copy and paste this link into your browser. https://zoom.us/j/97893974108