Most people at the Hansen North Fork Ranch knew they were gathering for Walt Hansen Sr.’s final Christmas, including Hansen himself.
For the first time in 10 to 12 years, the family celebrated Christmas at the farm, which Hansen’s grandparents purchased in 1897. Hansen grew up on the Woodland farm and lived there most of his life before moving to a gated community, also in Woodland. He moved back to the farm in June so he could spend his last months living where he had started his own family, a family that included eight children, 18 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.
On Christmas, 37 people gathered and shared their favorite memories of past Christmases at the farm. After about two hours, it was Hansen’s turn, the last to speak. He was silent, and his family worried that maybe he was confused or couldn’t remember anything.
But even at 86, Hansen’s memory stayed sharp right up until his Feb. 12 death. After his silence lingered in the air for a few seconds, he spoke:
“This year,” he said.
For anyone who met Hansen, the answer wouldn’t be surprising. He loved his family and talked about them constantly.
“Every time we went out, I would hear the history of all his kids, where they were and what they were doing,” said Raivo Tamme, 67, who worked with Hansen for five years at Pyramid Insurance in Portland in the mid-1970s, and remained friends until Hansen died of congestive heart failure.
It’ll be his family’s turn to talk about Hansen today, when they hold his funeral at 2 p.m. at the Promise Church, 101 Hillshire Drive, Woodland.
Walter Hansen Jr., 54, the youngest of Hansen’s sons, said it was because of their father’s love for the family that he and his siblings felt it was important to give him one last large family gathering at the farm.
“We all knew what was inevitable,” said Adam Bailey, 41, one of Hansen’s grandkids. “We never talked about it. It was sad, but it was a real gift to have one more Christmas there.”
Bailey spent a lot of time with his grandfather the last year or so, when Bailey decided to chronicle his family’s history. He learned coding and Web development while putting together www.hansennorthforkranch.ajamesb.com, a space where he could share his family’s stories and pictures, some of which had been tucked away in a shoebox for 50-plus years.
While researching stories, Hansen took Bailey to the North Clark County Historical Museum in Amboy. Hansen, a well known local historian in Woodland, was treated “like a king,” Bailey said.
“He was so well-respected there,” Bailey said. “They let me behind the ropes and let me play the ancient organ.”
Man about town
That’s how it was going anywhere with Hansen. When Bailey was a kid, whenever his grandfather took him and other grandchildren out, Hansen was always talking to people. Hansen served on the Planters Day committee for 60-plus years, running the frog jump for 47 of those years, and established the original Woodland Cub Scout pack with his wife, Donna, who died in 2010. The couple were married for 57 years.
He also fought for and got historical recognition for the Cedar Creek Grist Mill and Hulda Klager Lilac Gardens. In 2007, he lobbied to keep the name of Hayes Creek intact. Hansen also chaired the bicentennial committee for the Woodland area in 1976, served on the state centennial committee in 1989 and the Woodland centennial committee in 2006. He was named Woodland’s Citizen of the Year in 2013.
“He was very calm,” said Martin Hansen, another of Walt and Donna’s sons. “When he had something he was passionate about, something he wanted to see changed or not changed, he was persistent. It was never-ending, but not in a way that was malicious. If you were a foe of his, you had a pretty tough time ahead of you, because he would never give up on an issue.”
Hansen was also involved with the Woodland Historical Museum and the Woodland Downtown Revitalization Committee, working with John “JJ” Burke on both projects.
“He also encouraged me to run for the recreation district. But not knowing anything about politics, when I went to register, I forgot what it was called and registered for the wrong thing and ended up being elected to the Woodland City Council,” Burke wrote in an email. “Walt was at every meeting and sometimes the only attendee. He had his opinions about things, and that is what I respected about him.”
Hansen was also known for his love of classic cars, many of which he worked on and stored at the farm.
“Some of my happiest memories are riding with him in his classic cars over the years,” Lori Hansen-Sargent, Hansen’s youngest daughter, wrote in an email. “He passed his love of cars on to all of us.”
After working in the insurance industry, he and Walt Jr. opened North Fork Motors in Woodland, where they worked on and sold used cars. Walt Hansen Jr. always loved going to auctions with his dad to find old cars to work on.
“I don’t think he ever bought anything new in his life except undergarments,” Hansen Jr. said.
He added that his father never hired a mechanic, plumber, electrician, carpenter or veterinarian, insisting on fixing things himself.
“When he put his mind to something, it was already done before it started,” Martin Hansen said.
Hansen was driving and mowing his lawn up until about six months ago, Hansen Jr. said, when the rest of the family finally forced him to stop. He was always that independent and wanted to do things for himself.
That’s partly why it meant so much for the children to give their dad his wish of one last Christmas at the farm. During his final weeks, family came and went constantly, so there were always at least four people with Hansen at the farm. He wanted to go out on his own terms, the same as how he lived.
“He knew his days were numbered,” Hansen Jr. said. “He crossed all his X’s and O’s, he had his burial plot paid for, and the music he wanted played at his funeral all picked out. That’s just how he did things.”
