Leo Harold Hanson

Born in Homestead, Montana to Ida and Hans Hanson, Leo grew up as a clever kid in a town of roughly 100 people. As he was fond of saying, there was no running water - unless you counted him sprinting to the pump with a bucket. He was brother to Laverne, Alice and Mary. He would tell you he wasn’t an obnoxious brother, not at all. Just don’t ask his sisters.

In WWII, he was a draftsman and worked on destroyers in Seattle, learning to fly just for fun and eventually joining the Army. Severe illness kept him stateside and sent him home after the war ended, which was really a good thing. His family had moved to Great Falls - which is where he met his beloved wife Eilene, the woman he decided he wanted to dote on and carefully pick out greeting cards for, for the next 69 years of his life.

After trading in Montana snow for California sunshine, Leo and Eilene got married and raised a family of three daughters: Janice, Debra and Laurie. He loved having a family, taking them on trips and finding creative ways to make them happy, buying them a horse, a new hot car called a VW Bug and a gorgeous upright grand piano.

His career as an electrical engineer allowed him to be a part of early era of the Atlas Missile project and he spent the majority of his career at Duncan Electronics in Costa Mesa in the 1960s. He tried retiring in the late 1970s, whisking Eilene off to Hawaii to live in paradise on Oahu. When they came back, his job asked him to return immediately and he officially retired in 1989.

Retirement still didn’t take - he jumped back into the parenting game to help raise his granddaughter Brittany. He took on duties as a sports team chauffeur, homework interpreter, fashion critic (generally positive) and attendee of performances on stages, at tracks or most often in the living room. When she got married, he asked her to move up the date a little so he could still be a young guy at 89 when he walked her down the aisle.

He loved his grandson Kai, and was proud of getting to teach him how to ride a bike. He liked watching movies together, Kai’s favorite hobby, and took pride in all of his successes.

He was proud to care for and then mentor Clay, giving him advice and humor as he paves his road in life. Clay is becoming a writer, which Leo would love because he loved reading.

He loved volunteering with his best friend Louie Rincon. He always greeted people with a huge smile and a laugh, listened to new perspectives, easily made friends and told people they were wonderful, beautiful, handsome.

And if he could make sure you remembered one thing, he would ask you to, " Be Careful."

Memorial service to be held Sunday, Feb. 3 at 11:30 at Harbor Lawn, at 1625 Gisler Avenue, Costa Mesa.

Burial to be held at Riverside National Cemetery at 10:20 on Feb. 6.