Obit of Hanshaw, Sylvia (h520) - Unknown County, Oklahoma Submitted by: Gene Phillips 18 Aug 2004 Return to Unknown County Archives: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/okstate.html ========================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm ========================================================================== SYLVIA HANSHAW Published on April 7, 2001 The Santa Rosa Press Democratt Sylvia Hanshaw, one of the women personified by "Rosie the Riveter" during World War II, spent two years riveting airplane parts at Lockheed in Los Angeles. "She wanted to join the Navy, but she didn't have the education; so she decided to do her part for the war by working on the line at Lockheed," said niece Jeanne Fernandes of Sebastopol. Hanshaw, a Sonoma County resident for 30 years, died Wednesday at the Sebastopol home of Jeanne Fernandes and her husband, Joe Fernandes. She was 79 and had been in failing health for several years. Family members said Hanshaw's hard-scrabble life mirrored the characters in John Steinbeck's "Grapes of Wrath." She was born in Texas, spent her early years in Oklahoma and moved to California during the Great Depression and Dust Bowl. She was only a teen-ager when she left Oklahoma in 1935 for a better life on the West Coast. "She wanted to at least see the grander side of life," her niece said. Hanshaw didn't have an education, but she always made her own way, working on factory lines, running boarding houses or working as a maid and nanny for the wealthy. "She was a strong, independent woman who made sure the world wasn't going to pass her by," Fernandes said. Hanshaw didn't have children of her own but was the beloved "Auntie Sylvia" to several generations of her extended family. She was known for her stylish hats and great home-cooked meals, with banana nut cake and a wild-rice casserole among her specialities. Hanshaw and her husband, the late Ray F. Hanshaw, moved to Rohnert Park in 1971. He died five years ago. Because of her declining health, Hanshaw moved to a board and care home one year ago. Several days before she died, she moved into the Fernandes home. She is survived by three nephews, three nieces, and many great-nieces and great-nephews. Services will be at 2 p.m. Monday at the Parent-Sorensen Mortuary in Sebastopol. Burial is at the San Joaquin Valley National Memorial Cemetery in Gustine. Friends may call at the mortuary from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. The family suggests memorial contributions to the Sutter VNA Hospice, 1110 North Dutton Ave., Santa Rosa 95401. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to Unknown County Archives: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/okstate.html