1925.03.31 - 2020.07.25
Memories of Johanne Kristine Johansen Hansen
It was a sad day today. I learned that my Aunt Johanne died yesterday, Saturday afternoon, 2020.07.25.
She was the youngest of my Dad’s sisters and the last of that family. She lived to be 95 and we had celebrated her birthday in March with a Zoom session of most of my cousins. Covid-19 had kept us from having a proper 1st Cousins Reunion this year, which would have been in June.
June 17th was the last email I received from Aunt Johanne. In it she talked about wondering what the schools would do this fall and how Nancy had been given permission to come into her apartment to help with some computer fixing & a list of other chores that had piled up. She managed pretty well with Covid restrictions, still managing to get down the hall to the mailbox daily, going later at night to avoid any contact.
Johanne went into the hospital on July 8th. At first the reports were good about her recovery from surgery, but then the pain got worse and pneumonia set in and then a blood clot in the lung. And now, she has no more pain and no more worries. I’m very sad for her 3 daughters to have lost such a good Mom. And I’m sad for all my first cousins as we have lost more than an Aunt and the last of the Johansen family. And now, it is the end of that generation of Johansens, leaving it now to my generation.
When I think about my memories of Aunt Johanne as a young girl, the first thing I can remember was riding with her through the Minneapolis highway system on our way to Des Moines. She was driving and I was so impressed because I had not seen those big highways before. I have no idea why I would have been riding with her or who else was along, I only remember being in the backseat as we cruised through overpasses and underpasses along our way. In later years, as I drove through the Twin Cities, a little nervous about the traffic and trying to stay in the lane that took me in the right direction, I marveled at her ability to manage that drive.
Then, as a young woman, I would see Jo and Thorvald most every time I drove through Des Moines on my way to Luck. Sometimes it would only be a short visit as I would want to travel on. Aunt Johanne always fussed about me leaving to drive on when it was already dark. I did it several times, she never liked it. She was right. At least one time I got into a squeeze trying to get a motel room extremely late at night with No Vacancies for many miles. Sometimes I would stay at Uncle Chris and Aunt Elsie’s, but most of the time I would hop in the car and head for Luck, WI or back to Denver, CO. Always knowing that Aunt Johanne would worry for my safety.
In my memory, I thought that Aunt Johanne and Aunt Elsie were the wedding planners for the family. I think they helped with a couple, at the very least, but to me, they were the organizers and doers that made things happen for the family. As we got a little older, Sister-In-Law Lois and I would say we were Jo & Elsie if we were working in the kitchen together or putting on a party. We felt proud to be walking in their shoes.
I remember one visit to Aunt Johanne, on a summer day in Des Moines, we sat on the sun porch having a cold drink. That was the first time she showed me the family tree she had been working on. She had used a poster board and started hand drawing in the tree with a few of the details. It was really the first time I understood who the Tante’s were in Luck and how I was related to all of my Grandmother Frederikke’s sisters and brother and all of their children. I knew just enough about computers then to know that we needed to find a way to enter what we knew into a family tree software. And so, it began that the two of us worked on keeping the family tree updated over the years. Johanne and Thorvald did all the research back into the 1800s, in Denmark or at the genealogy center in Salt Lake City, UT. As of today, our tree has 1,198 names included. We tried to add every new baby and any new death. She was particular that we didn't say what we didn't know to be fact and that we didn't stray too far away from the bloodline, meaning the families of in-laws, etc, although I have been known to cheat on that rule. I did the update this afternoon as soon as Cousin Barb called me. Aunt Johanne would want the tree to be accurate and updated.
The family tree work gave Aunt Jo and I a good reason to email back and forth with any updates. As time went on, I got in the habit of trying to email her at least once a week, whether I had much to say or not. She started closing her emails with Ha’ det godt, Danish for Have it Good. I love that and I started using it as well. Often, we would just say a bit about the weather, or I would update her about her great & great-great nieces and nephews. She kept them all straight, as to who belonged to who, which was not an easy feat. In our family alone she was an aunt, great aunt, great-great aunt, and great-great-great aunt. I looked forward to hearing from her and am forever grateful that she embraced the email process and we kept in touch all these many years, even after Uncle Thorvald passed in 2015 & her eyesight became dimmed by the macular degeneration. We sometimes would hash over the political situation; she was a strong Democrat and knew that I was as well. She was disgusted with the Trump administration crudeness and was hoping to see him voted out in the Fall. She was a night owl as was I, so emailing was perfect as it could be done at any hour of the day. I suppose I should have telephoned her to chat more often, but we had so many enjoyable email ‘conversations’ over the years, I’m not sorry for our electronic correspondence. Many of which are saved in a folder in my email, there now for me to re-read and remember.
I did not get to Des Moines as often as I should have since moving back to Wisconsin in 2008. Thankfully, we had a First Cousin’s gathering each year, so there was at least one good chance to visit with her, although the competition for her time amongst all the cousins put her time in great demand. This last cousin’s reunion, in 2019, was the best (in my opinion). Aunt Johanne was the star and we each took a turn to ask a question and then we all listened. It was just fun to hear what she remembered and to hear her thoughts, and to see the looks on the cousin’s faces as she answered each of their questions.
I learned to do Counted Cross-stitch from Aunt Elsie, but Aunt Johanne was also a master. She even made up a pattern to capture the 3 churches of West Denmark. A commemorative bell pull that I hear will be donated to the West Denmark Church and I’ll be proud to present it. I remember that she cross stitched some valances for one of her rooms, I loved those and was amazed by the work involved. She made a charming home and whenever we ate a meal there, it was done with proper decor and dishes. She made me wish I was more Danish in my daily behavior.
I always admired the life work of Uncle Thorvald and Aunt Johanne; I respected their many contributions to Grand View College. I remember one time when Uncle Thorvald told me I should write more, not as in more often or letters, but just to write to express myself. I took it as a profoundly serious compliment and have worked on keeping a blog for about 12 years and often spend some time writing to elected officials & the occasional editorial for the newspaper and now this.
I am so happy that I had the cousin’s reunion here at my home in 2018. She got to see many of the artifacts that I have collected from Dad, and Grandfather Ansgar’s barn (courtesy of Paul & Maggie Petersen). I have several cement blocks that were hand made by Aunt Johanne & Dad in about 1940, as well as a few other antique keepsakes. I was incredibly grateful that she was able to come here, got into the house okay and then enjoyed the day of visiting with her nieces and nephews. It made me incredibly happy that she could see my yard and house, at least that one time.
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| After Uncle Thorvald's funeral in 2015 |
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| On the steps of the Dane School at West Denmark, she was determined to make it up the steps so that she could see the inside. |
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| 2019 |
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| At Grandview University, building named for her and Uncle Thorvald |
Ha’ de godt Auntie
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