OBITUARY: Ruth Jessica Petersen Hansen, 1915-2003, Worth County, Iowa


[ The Northwood Anchor online -- Posted January 21, 2003 ]



                         Ruth Jessica Hansen

Ruth Jessica Hansen, 87, of Bolan, died Monday, Jan. 13, 2003, at the
Lutheran Retirement Home in Northwood.

Memorial services were Friday at the Trinity United Methodist Church in
Bolan, with Rev. Robert Cumings officiating.  According to her wishes and
to help with the advancement of eradicating diseases, her body was donated
to the University of Iowa Hospital Anatomy Department in Iowa City. 

Conner Colonial Chapel, Northwood, was in charge of the arrangements.

Ruth Jessica Hansen was born on Nov. 29, 1915, in Grand Mound, IA, the
second of six children born to Martin and Martha (Paulson) Petersen.  The
family moved to northern Iowa where Ruth attended country school and
graduated from Plymouth High School.

She married Arthur H. White on April 26, 1936, at the Little Brown Church
in Nashua.  He preceded her in death in 1964.  She and Art moved to Bolan
in 1940 and became owners of the Bolan store, which they operated until
his death.  She married George Hansen in September of 1966, at the Little
Brown Church in Nashua.  After their marriage they continued in business
together until his death in August 1999.  

When the residents of Bolan were featured on the David Letterman show,
Ruth was one of the spokespersons for the community.  After the show aired,
she received mail from all over the United States.

Ruth collected antiques for many years and eventually opened an antique
shop in Bolan.  She also took flying lessons and learned to fly her own
plane. She attended auctioneer school in Mason City and at the time she
was the oldest student ever registered at that school.  

She was a member and very active of the Trinity United Methodist Church
in Bolan, and was very active in the ladies groups.  

Left to cherish her memory are her daughters, Phyllis Young of Denver, CO,
and Carla White of Ft. Collins, CO; six grandchildren; three great-
grandchildren; three step-children, Bootie Kapler and her husband Ike
of Cresco, Harold Hansen and his wife Margie of Davenport, and Norma
Seligman and her husband Andy of Tipton; and their children and
grandchildren; a sister, Phyllis Pearson and her husband Don of Omaha,
NE, and a brother, Marty Petersen of San Diego, CA, as well as many nieces
and nephews, and other relatives and friends.

She was preceded in death by her parents; two husbands, Arthur White and
George Hansen, a son, Lee A. White, and three brothers, Ralph, Raymond,
and Robert Petersen, and a step-son, Leon Hansen.





Copyright (c) 2003 by Kermit Kittleson
(Note: Not necessarily related to the subject of this obituary.)
This copy contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives.