George Hanson, 84, died peacefully from complications of Parkinson’s disease on June 9, 2018. He first visited Port Townsend in 1989, and in 1992 moved here from Chicago after retiring from a long career as a college librarian.
George’s life was defined by a lifelong love of learning, an enduring faith, and a deep appreciation of his Icelandic heritage.
He was born in 1934, in Chicago, to Vigdis “Daisy” Gudmundsson Hanson and George William Hanson. His father emigrated from Sweden, where his ancestors had been civil servants. His mother was born in Iceland, where her ancestors had been Lutheran pastors and bishops for centuries.
At the age of four, George spent a winter with his Icelandic “amma” in Arborg, Manitoba, known as “New Iceland,” where he quickly learned the ancient Icelandic language. After World War II, he spent every summer with his amma.
After graduating with honors from Lake View High School in Chicago, George continued his education at Northwestern University, where he was on the dean’s list and earned a bachelor’s degree in 1956. He taught elementary school in Chicago for a few years while also studying for his master’s degree at the University of Chicago.
In 1961 he accepted a teaching assignment at the U.S. Naval Air Station Keflavik in Iceland, where he conducted research at the National Library of Iceland for his master’s thesis, titled “The National Library of Iceland During the Twentieth Century.” Returning to Chicago, he resumed his studies while working as a librarian at the University of Chicago, and in 1963 earned his master’s degree in library science.
In 1964, George accepted a position at Truman College in Chicago. Within ten years he was named director of the Truman College Learning Resources Center and remained in that post for eighteen years, until retirement.
George continued his education at Chicago’s Loyola University, where he was awarded a fellowship. He spent a summer researching his dissertation in the Icelandic library at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, and earned a doctoral degree in education, with high honors, from Loyola in 1979. His dissertation was titled “Icelandic Education: Tradition and Modernization in a Cultural Perspective.”
Other interests included music, gardening, and sailing. He studied piano at the Chicago Conservatory of Music, was a dedicated Master Gardener, and an avid sailor. He received a full certificate from the U.S. Power Squadrons and sailed his boat on Lake Michigan and on Puget Sound.
A caring companion to five dogs throughout his life, he served on the first board of directors for Olympic Mountain Pet Pals in 1995.
George enjoyed many travels. He visited Iceland twenty-five times and traveled extensively in Europe and the United States, exploring all fifty states. Always—whether traveling or at home—he sought out bookstores, building a significant personal library of more than three thousand volumes that reflected his wide-ranging interests: Iceland, theology, literature, history, biography, boating, music, gardening.
Last year, George donated his Icelandic collection of more than one thousand books, most of them written in the language, to Icelandic Roots, a nonprofit educational organization in the Midwest that preserves the history and traditions of Iceland.
George’s deep faith sustained him throughout his life. He was an active member of churches in both Chicago and Port Townsend, and even as Parkinson’s curtailed his physical participation, he continued to write and publish articles and exemplify his faith with kindness and generosity of spirit.
George had a gift for forming deep friendships. He is survived by relatives in Canada and Iceland, and by many devoted friends in Port Townsend, Chicago, and Iceland. His beloved dog Teddy preceded him in death.
A memorial service is planned for 2 p.m. Saturday, June 30 at Grace Lutheran Church in Port Townsend. Burial is in Graceland Cemetery in Chicago.
Memorial donations in George’s name are suggested to Grace Lutheran, 1120 Walker St., Port Townsend, WA 98368, or Olympic Mountain Pet Pals, P.O. Box 1466, Port Hadlock, WA 98339.
