Ruth Marjorie Hanson, of Gresham, passed away peacefully on June 9, 2015, at the age of 84.
Ruth was born on Aug. 23, 1930, in Appleton, the second of two daughters of Rudolf and Emma Hersekorn. Ruth led an active and accomplished life of public service.
Her adult life started at St. Luke’s Hospital of Nursing in Chicago, where she was licensed as a registered nurse. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing from the University of Texas and a Master of Science degree in nursing from the University of Wisconsin. Ruth held nursing posts with the Madison Department of Public Health, Veterans Administration, U.S. Air Force Flight Nurse, University of Chicago and St. Luke’s Hospital in Chicago. In Madison, Ruth was a public health nurse for the Madison Department of Public Health for 12 years and the executive director of the Visiting Nurse Service (a nonprofit organization and affiliated with United Way) serving Dane County for 10 years. She was an assistant clinical professor in the UW School of Nursing. Ruth was featured in the “Know Your Madisonian” column of the Wisconsin State Journal. She has published articles and research in the health care field, received numerous awards and served on regional and national health care boards over her career.
More than the professional accomplishments, Ruth was, at her very core, a person that had an energy and passion for educating and caring for people, starting with her four children, their friends and her neighbors and extending to everyone she met during her years of service as a nurse. Ruth was a terrific mom; she had her children assist in various volunteer community service tasks, allowing them to learn firsthand the importance of caring for fellow community members. She took her children on hikes, had them help pick berries and make jam, and always had snacks anyone who came over to the house.
Ruth was strong in her Lutheran faith. Generous and kind, she always found the good in people. Her children, grandchildren and others found Ruth to be a light along their pathways. Those who knew her were touched by her kind spirit.
In her last week, Ruth was surrounded by her four children: Peter (Martha), of Wilmette, Illinois; Tom, of Broomfield, Colorado; Lisa (Jesse), of Golden, Colorado; and Linda Garrow (Joe), of Long Beach, California. She is also survived by her eight grandchildren: Katherine and Ellen Hanson, Paul, Gunnar and Tia Hanson, Logan Duhnkrack, and Andrew and Julia Garrow; sister, Jan (Herb) Falck; nephews, Mark and David Falck; and niece, Andrea Brassfield, of Madison.
A celebration of her life will be held in Madison in September.
Ruth, demonstrating her love of caring for others, has asked that any memorial contributions be made in Ruth’s name to the Visiting Nurse Service (4601 Hammersly Road, Madison, WI 53711) or St. Paul’s Sunday Soup Kitchen (1004 Greenwood Ave., Evanston, IL 60201.
