Deane Lee Hansen

Deane Lee Hansen was born in Minneapolis on August 2, 1962 to Sandra Engstrom Stockburger and Theodore Stockburger, and he was raised in Jamestown, Colo. (near Boulder). Hansen excelled at ice hockey. Before coming to play hockey at DU, he played junior hockey in 1979-80 with the Bellingham (Wash.) Blazers, a British Columbia Junior Hockey League team loaded with DU-bound future teammates (and fellow forwards) including Dave Anderson, Ian Ramsay, and Dave Berry. Hansen also played for the Sioux City Musketeers in the USHL that season and DU offered him a scholarship to come to Denver for the following season.

After college graduation that year in 1984, his strong senior year DU performance had earned him a plane ticket to Sweden, where he spent the next two seasons playing pro hockey for Tingsryds AIF — then a Swedish Division I club in the south of the country. There, he scored 18 goals and added 21 assists in his 62 games played between 1984 and 1986. Hansen then retired from hockey.

After hockey, Hansen returned to the Denver area, where his then-wife, Renée Arko, a fellow DU classmate, gave birth to their two daughters, Erika and Alexandra (Sasha), whom he loved dearly. Deane and Renée later divorced.

His daughters will cherish their fond memories of their childhood adventures, like going out for bike rides on the weekends and their trips to the bubblegum store.

Deane is preceded in death by his father, Theodore Stockburger, mother, Sandra Engstrom Hansen, and his sister, Theresa Hansen Magill.

Deane is survived by his daughters, Erika and Alexandra (Sasha) Hansen, ex-wife, Renée Arko, his nephews, Robert and James Magill, and niece Jessica Magill. He is also survived by many more friends, family, and teammates.