Janice Karen Graham Hanson passed into the loving arms of Jesus, surrounded by her husband Dick, and three daughters on June 22, 2024, at the age of 91. 
Janice was the youngest, and only daughter of four children born to Myron and Jeannette Graham at the family farm north of Beresford, South Dakota.
At age 18, Jan moved from the farm to the nearby city of Sioux Falls for her first secretarial job. After a few years, she and a girlfriend answered the call of adventure and moved to Los Angeles where Jan found work at Lockheed Aircraft and joined Emmanuel Lutheran Church in North Hollywood. Jan met a handsome Dick Hanson at church and they were married on February 15, 1958.  
Shortly after their wedding Jan and Dick moved to Decorah, Iowa where Dick earned his BA at Luther College and then they went on to Minnesota where Dick began his seminary training to become a pastor. Jan supported and encouraged Dick’s studies, using her excellent secretarial skills to edit and type up all his papers. Additionally, she worked hard to keep the home fires burning tending to three daughters, Kristi, Cindy, and Karen. 
When Richard received his first call to ministry in Claresholm, Alberta, Canada, Jan gamely packed up the family and they moved to this beautiful place where the plains meet the foothills of the Rockies. In Claresholm, Jan and Dick completed their family by adopting their son, David.
Jan focused her energies at home until the kids were older, when she found employment at the Willow Creek School Division office. After retiring, Dick and Jan did interim ministry in Brooks and Medicine Hat, Alberta, finally settling in Lethbridge. Because Jan loved their home and friends in Canada so much it took COVID-19 in 2020 to “ground” her and Dick in Tacoma where two of their daughters live. 
The central themes of Jan’s life were her relationship with Jesus, her love of family and friends, and her service to others. She had such a strong prayer life it seemed to us that she had a direct line to heaven. Jan always had a garden full of vegetables and flowers, which she loved to tend. When grandchildren came to visit, she made sure to introduce them to the joys of harvesting their own food.
Jan is lovingly remembered by her husband of 66 years, Dick Hanson, her children, Kristi (Jim), Cindy (Tony), Karen (Tom), and David, grandchildren, Dustin, Kathleen, Diana, Matthew, Erica, Tom, Kristina, Annelise, Jacob, Julia, Laura, and Olivia, as well as six great-grandchildren with one on the way.  
We grieve Jan’s death while finding comfort in our hope of resurrection! 
A Memorial service for Jan will be held on July 19, 11 a.m. at Mount Cross Lutheran Church in University Place, Washington.  To view the live-streamed service use this link:
https://www.mountcrosslutheran.org,  and click “worship.”

For later viewing use this link:  https://www.youtube.com/@WashingtonTheState.