“She just loved to be happy and have fun,” said Shannon Blair, one of Hansen’s daughters. “Bruce was the love of her life. She was all about family.”
Marie Hansen is survived by her husband and daughters, Shannon (Jim) Blair and Kim McLean. Hansen loved her family fiercely, Kim McLean said.
“She was very proud of my sister and myself,” McLean said. “And she was very proud of her three grandchildren.”
Hansen is survived by grandchildren Katie, James, and Piper; brothers and sisters, Gwen (George) Polletta, Michael (Sherry) Paciorek, Joe (Genny) Paciorek, and Nick Paciorek; and numerous nieces, nephews, great nieces, and great nephews.
Born in Chicago Heights, Ill., Hansen spent most of her life living in the south suburbs of Chicago until she moved to the Dayton region about four years ago. She was described as a loving wife, mother, sister and aunt, who was talented at floral designs and throwing family gatherings.
“Mom was an amazing florist,” Blair said. “She could put together the most beautiful arrangements.”
Hansen’s last job was as a florist at Hillside Florist in the Chicago area.
“She was also the family party person,” Blair said. “Because my sister and I both lived away from the rest of the family so long, any time that we would come home, Mom would get the whole family together. ... She believed so strongly in family.”
Hansen’s family remembered her as the first one on the dance floor at weddings and the last one off of it, and they laughed about her sense of humor.
“We had to chill the turkey (one Thanksgiving), so she got it a beer and sunglasses, and she put it in our sink, and we let it chill,” said Piper, one of Hansen’s grandchildren.
Piper also remembered how her grandmother pretended to use rolls of bubble wrap as light sabers, and taught her how to dance.
“There were certain times we would be making food in our kitchen, and she put on music, and we’d all kind of dance, and she’d teach me how to dance,” Piper said. “She was wonderful.”
Visitation will be Saturday, Sept. 23, from 1-4 p.m. at Tobias Funeral Home, 5471 Far Hills Ave. Hansen’s family picked Sept. 23 for a special reason as she had been planning a party for that day.
“My husband, daughter, and I were going to go to a concert in Pittsburgh, and I asked her if she would come and take care of the dogs while we were gone, and she said, ‘Yep, if you pay me in a hug,’ ” Shannon Blair said.
While they were gone, Hansen got together with Blair’s neighbors, with whom she was friends.
“And she looked at them and goes, ‘So, when Shannon and Jim and Piper are out of town, you call your friends, because we’re having a party.’ So she was going to throw a party at my house,” Shannon said. “And so that’s why we decided on the 23rd. So Mom still gets her party.”
“It could be the darkest, dreariest day, and Mom would light it all up,” McLean said.
Hansen traveled to Mexico and the Panama Canal, but she didn’t make it her goal destination of visiting Australia one day.
“Mom wasn’t the type of person who could sit still,” Blair said. “She always wanted to go places and see things.”
The Saturday night before she died, Hansen spent that time together with her family.
“We ate and laughed and drank and told stories. That is the essence of my mom,” Blair said, adding that she had been loved by many people. “I’m going to miss her so much. She really was one of my best friends.”
“She was my everything,” McLean said. “She was fun. She was a lot of fun.”
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