Kenneth Wayland Hansen October 16, 1932 - July 11, 2023

Kenneth Wayland Hansen, 90, of Ericksdahl Community near Avoca passed away on the 11th of July 2023. He was born Oct. 16, 1932, in Shackelford County to Gilbert Hansen and Ella Youngquist Hansen. He graduated from Lueders High School in 1949. He loved being a Lueders Pirate and was elected Class Favorite his Senior Year and made All District as half back on the football team. He is remembered for his athletic abilities and easy going, fun personality. After high school, he married Yvonne Handrick, and settled into the young life of a farming family, with its many ups and downs. They were married 63 years. They had two children, Becky and Bryant Hansen. He loved family, community, and farming. He was a lifetime member of Bethel Lutheran Church in Ericksdahl, where he enjoyed serving in many capacities.

As a farmer, he was innovative, creative, energetic, and dedicated to the land he loved. His optimistic, attitude and self-taught knowledge combined with growing up in a loving farm family contributed to his hard work ethic, persistence, and success as a young farmer. He and wife, Yvonne, loved building a family farm life together. He had a natural, heart-felt understanding and respect of the land and elements. Over the years, he served on FSA boards and other farming and civic organizations. His management of crop residues, soil conservation, terracing, and chiseling techniques as well as crop rotation and farming on the contour contributed to the success of the Hansen’s farming career. He maintained, designed, and built equipment to enhance his farming operation, many of which were innovative and new to farming. He was selected as Outstanding Young Farmer by the Stamford Jaycees in 1961. In 1966, he won the Abilene Area Outstanding Young Farmer award. He designed a chisel plow that worked both as a subsoiler and bed preparation device, all in one operation. This concept was later developed by a manufacturer and helped change the face of farming. He raised wheat, cotton, and other crops over his 50 years of farming. In the early years he ran commercial Herefords and Angus. He participated in the Shackelford Co 4H program, helping families with show calves. He served as President of the Stamford Young Farmer’s chapter and was named Outstanding Conservation Farmer of California Creek Soil Conservation District. His civic service included Lueders Lions club, and Lueders-Avoca school board. He served on the Shackleford County stabilization and conservation service committee. He believed in respecting and preserving land and wildlife. After retiring from farming and losing his wife to Alzheimer’s he attended Senior Citizens and enjoyed life with new friends. He was honored with being inducted into Lueders School Hall of Fame in 2017. He loved family, old, and new friends, the farm, old cars, trips to Ruidoso and the Rio Grande Valley, his pets, and watching birds feeding outside his dining table. He is remembered as kind, creative, hardworking, gentle, patient, and witty. He seldom complained and always appreciated the simple things in life. Later in life, he sang “Oh What a Beautiful Morning.” And often stated, “Life had been good.”

Kenneth is preceded in death by his parents, Gilbert and Ella Hansen, his wife Yvonne Hansen, his son Bryant Hansen, his grandson Phillip Hansen. He is survived by his daughter Becky Hansen-Jones and husband Kelly Jones who reside in Ericksdahl, and granddaughter Avery Bechtel and husband Josh and their two children Parker and Rowen, and granddaughter Elle Majors, all of Salida, CO. Visitation was Thursday, July 13, 2023 from 5 until 6 p.m. at Tankersley Funeral Home. Funeral Services were held Friday, July 14th at 11a.m. at Bethel Lutheran Church in Ericksdahl with Rev. Richard Strait officiating. Burial followed in the Bethel Lutheran Church Cemetery under the direction of Tankersley Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers, memorials may made to Bethel Lutheran Church, P.O. Box 828, Stamford, TX 79553 or to Stamford VIP Community Center, 508 East Gould Street, Stamford, TX 79553. Online condolences may be made and viewed at www. tankersleyfuneralhome.com