Becca Dancing

Ok, I found another one. This is a real classic. I always want to remember Becca, so full of life and just dancing.

Albert Hanson

December 2008 

MY DAD - ALBERT EDWARD HANSON 

(by Roger Worthington Thorpe Hanson)(Uncle Roger)

Time moves on swiftly whether we want it to or not! Just recently I realized that my Dad had passed away 40 years ago. I vividly remember that last night (November 29, 1968) going to the N.E. Deaconess Hospital in Boston with my mother and sisters apprehensive about what the future might be for the "Hanson Clan". 

Just a few days previous, he had kidney stones removed - apparently he had been in great pain. Afterwards, I met his surgeon in the hospital lobby who explained exactly what he had done. He even drew me a diagram (which I kept for many years) . 

He made it sound so simple. Dad seemed to be doing all right so I returned to my new job in Washington, D.C. Then, a few days later Polly called and suggested that I should return to Boston. Dad was not doing well. 

Dad was always there for me when I needed him - so I should be there for him. He always seemed to be in good spirits and enjoyed being with other people. Singing in glee clubs was a great joy to him and an opportunity to meet other people. Unbeknown to me at the time, Miss Nichols, my third grade teacher, was in the church choir that my Dad had formed. One day she went around her classroom listening to individual voices. Apparently, she was not impressed with mine since I never received any offers to sing in a choir. Fortunately, my sisters are much more gifted in this area. - My Dad never said a word to me about this. 

Late in his career, he became a salesman and sold business engineering to small and medium sized firms in New England. With his way-with-peopler he was quite successful at it. He often had an interesting tale to tell about his clients. 

Although I was familiar with the "Salesman­Dad," I never knew much about his youth - it seemed as if he didn't want to talk about it. Oh, we all knew he was born in London, England, and came to Canada as a boy to be on a farm outside Toronto. But that was about it. 

Recently, I came across some draft employee records for R.G. Dunn in his handwriting that I want to share with you. Based mainly on these, I have developed a "time-line" of some of his activities which are new to me and may be of interest to you. Unfortunately, there are a few inconsistencies - I don't know why. I have used an "educated-guess" in some cases. In addition, some English friends, Alan and Pat Hunt, were kind enough to get Dad's official birth certificate and a picture of where he was born, a rather nice­looking row house in Upper Tooting. Coincidentally, Pat grew up in this area and they lived nearby for a while. 

I don't have any evidence as to where Dad actually landed in North America, but it is felt that Canada would be most likely. 

Your thoughts, questions and remarks are welcome. 

A Trip to the Provo Temple

To celebrate Pauls birthday, we planned a trip to the Provo Temple to participate in sealings. Not all of use could enter the temple that day. We all felt sad. I tried to bright everyone by telling them a story of another Temple session not attended, that was a blessing.

So as not to embellish I found the story and copied it here.

The Christensen Family, pages 284-285.

"... With the knowledge that our great-grandmother, Ellen Christen, had done temple work for some of ther people in June 1893, I had new hope that we might learn more. ... Relia and I hurried off to Salt Lake that morning intent on participating in a session at the temple. A lot of other people had the same plan and the first and second sessions were over crowded. We were told to come back in the afternoon. We could not because we had young children and our livestock to care for.

"Our disappointment must have been very evident, because as we sat there in the Annex waiting for the return train, one of the ordinance workders ased if there was something they could do to compensate. I told him that my people had done work at the temple in June 1893 for their kindred of which we had no record. ... He escorted us to a basement room where large filing cabnets covered the walls. ... He opened the book and asked for the names of the proxies. In seconds he had found them. Grandfather, grandmother and great-groudmother had done ordinances on hehalf of fourteen of her kindred. The relationships to the proxies, dates and places of birth, etc, were all there. Our dissappointment had proven a bessing in disguise.

"With the data which Brother Card copied from the temple archive, we soon went to the library and made a deposit on research to be done, in Demark. ... So it was that in a few weeks time we received 145 names."

There is more to this story:

"It is said that grandma Ellen Christensen had been very sick the year before and said she could die happy if she had only done the temple work for her people. Phoebe said, "Why don't you pray to the Lord and ask Him to help you get better so you can go and do some?" Phoebe said, "She did pray to the Lord and she did get better so last June (June 1893) we went and did some." ... Aunt Mable told that her sweet old grandmother had to be carried to the train when they left for Salt Lake, but when they returned she could walk.