Lester O. Hansen, age 77, of Boyden, Iowa passed away on Friday, May 16, 2014 at the Sanford Sheldon Medical Center.
The funeral service will be 10:00 A.M. on Tuesday, May 20, 2014 at the Vander Ploeg Funeral Home in Boyden.
Burial will be at the Sheridan Township Cemetery in Boyden. Visitation will be after 4 P.M. on Monday, May 19, 2014 with family present from 5 – 7 P.M. at the Vander Ploeg Funeral Home in Boyden.
Arrangements are under the care of the Vander Ploeg Funeral Home in Boyden.
Online condolences may be sent to www.vanderploegfunerals.com
Lester Otto Hansen, the son of Otto and Marian (Hawke) Hansen was born on October 24, 1936 in Frankfort, South Dakota. He graduated from Doland High School in Doland, South Dakota in 1956 and later received his Associates Degree from Sioux Empire College. He enlisted in the United States Air Force in 1958 and was honorably discharged in 1961. While in the Air Force he was a mechanic for the B52 Bombers and also worked on the Minute Man missile sites in Rapid City. He was united in marriage to Joan Heffernan in Redfield, South Dakota on September 7, 1958. After they got married they settled in Boyden, Iowa where Lester was a Machining Department Supervisor for Demco for over 30 years, retiring in 2002. He went back part time for Demco from 2004 – 2012. Lester also worked as a crane operator working on a number of bridges around the area. Lester passed away on Friday, May 16, 2014 at the Sanford Sheldon Medical Center in Sheldon, reaching the age of 77 years, 6 months and 22 days.
Lester enjoyed camping, traveling, fishing, hunting and owning nice black cars. He loved being a grandpa and was a faithful husband visiting his wife everyday while in the nursing home.
Left to cherish Lester’s life is his wife, Joan Hansen of Boyden; two children, Bonnie and her husband Mike Diekevers of Boyden and Leslie and his wife Barb Hansen of Alton, Iowa; seven grandchildren, Jenna, Todd, Breanne, Karissa, Mitchell, Ben and Rebecca; two great grandchildren, Mackenzie and Jacie; a brother, Lyle Hansen of Yakima, Washington; two sisters and husbands, Joyce and John Jansen of Ashton, South Dakota and Carol and Oscar Woodfork of Redfield, South Dakota; also nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.
He was preceded in death by his parents and two sisters, Donna Zens and Bernadine Lewis.
