Frank William Hansen
passed away Tuesday, August 3, 2010 at the age of 89, after a very short stay at the Cook County North Shore Care Center in Grand Marais. He was diagnosed with acute leukemia on July 16.
Frank worked on behalf of the community right up to the end of his life. He was very active in July, serving on the board of the Sawtooth Mountain Clinic where he was board chair for 20 years. He was on the air for the WTIP North Shore Community Radio membership drive the week of July 12-16. His last WTIP West End News
column aired on July 16 after more than 20 years as a columnist for the Cook County News-Herald
and WTIP. He spoke at the Cook County Historical Society on June 19.
Frank was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on February 6, 1921. He was educated in the Baltimore school system, Loyola College in Baltimore, Fordham University in New York City, and the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. In 1946, he left the University to serve in the psychological service of the US Army at Fort Lee in Petersburg, Virginia. In 1947, he returned to the U of M where he taught psychology and child development at both the Minneapolis and Duluth campuses for the next 15 years. He spent all his summers until 1955 participating in his family’s business, Camps Whitethorn and Minnetoska, in the Appalachian mountains of western Maryland. In 1957, he started his own outdoor business in Minnesota: Sawbill Canoe Outfitters, Inc., on Sawbill Lake in Tofte.
Frank met his wife, Mary Alice, in graduate school, and she became a partner in all his activities after they were married on August 29, 1946. In 1961, they moved from Duluth back to Minneapolis where they both became school psychologists during the school year—Frank at Eden Prairie and Mary Alice in Bloomington. Summers were spent at Sawbill Lake, managing their growing business. In 1976, they retired from their city jobs and moved to Tofte to live full time at Sawbill Canoe Outfitters. In 2008 they moved to Grand Marais.
Frank was a Cook County commissioner representing the Tofte, Schroeder, Lutsen area from 1980 – 1988. He served as president of the Association of Minnesota Counties (AMC), and traveled widely in that position. Minnesota Governor Rudy Perpich appointed him to serve on the Governor’s Health Care Access Commission, which led to the creation of Minnesota Care. Frank received many awards for a broad range of community work but was always motivated by a strong desire to build a stronger, more humane community for all people. He was well known as a generous and compassionate man.
Frank is survived by his wife Mary Alice and his children: Karl (Lee Stewart) of Grand Marais, Ranna (Kevin) LeVoir of Maple Lake, MN and Downers Grove, IL and Bill (Cindy) of Tofte; and his grandchildren: Adam Hansen of Fargo, ND, Ruthie Hansen of Chicago, Marie (Eric) Ljosenvoor of Maple Lake, MN, Clare Hansen of Missoula, MT, Marc LeVoir of Minneapolis and Carl Hansen of Tofte and one great granddaughter, Linnea Ljosenvoor; his brother George (Judy) Hansen of Baltimore; two nieces and two nephews. He has three step granddaughters and four step great-grandchildren.
He is preceded in death by his parents, a sister, Ruth Virginia Cumings and her husband, Ken Cumings.
A memorial service is scheduled for Saturday, August 14, at 10:30 AM, followed by lunch and fellowship at the First Congregational Church at Second Street and Third Avenue West in Grand Marais. Burial will be at a later date in the family plot at the Tofte Cemetery.
Memorials are preferred to the North Shore Health Care Foundation, the First Congregational Church in Grand Marais, or the Cook County non-profit organization of the donor’s choice.
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