(veteran)

#1~Gregory M. Hansen, M. D., was born Sept. 3, 1950, in Fremont and died April 1, 2010, in Omaha.

Services were Monday, April 5, at First Methodist Church in Omaha. Military rites were conducted by the Benson VFW Post No. 2503.

He is survived by his wife, Karen D. (Christensen) Hansen; children, Shane and Amanda; sister, Michelle Hansen; nieces and nephews; other relatives and many friends.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Merle Edwin Hansen and Loine June Hansen.

Memorials are suggested to the American Cancer Society, the Nebraska Heart Association, or the Hansen Children Education Fund.

Heafey-Heafey-Hoffman-Dworak-Cutler West Center Chapel was in charge of arrangements.

#2~Published in the Omaha World Herald April 7, 2010

Dr. Greg Hansen, 59, embraced roles in life

When an eye injury forced orthopedic surgeon Greg Hansen to retire in 2003, he and his wife swapped roles.

“I went back to work. He became the stay-at-home dad,” said Karen Hansen. “He totally embraced it.”

“His latest, greatest project with the kids was they built a tree house, an apartment in the trees, I call it,” she said. The tree house has electricity, television, a ceiling fan and a wrap-around porch.

Now the Hansens’ children, son Shane and daughter Amanda “Mandy,” will have to use the space without their father.

Dr. Gregory Merle Hansen died unexpectedly Thursday at the rural Omaha home, his wife said. He was 59 and had a heart attack, she said.

Greg Hansen served four years in the Navy, including a tour of duty as a medic in Vietnam. He graduated from the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 1977 and earned a master’s degree there in 1979.

He graduated from the College of Medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in 1983. He was an intern and resident from 1983-1988 in the joint residency program at the Creighton University College of Medicine and UNMC.

He began his career as an orthopedic surgeon at Methodist Hospital in 1988 and stayed there until he retired in 2003. He also was a clinical professor of orthopedics.

Greg Hansen loved to be outdoors, she said, and enjoyed hunting, fishing, camping, horticulture and seeing wildlife.

He planted apple trees for an orchard, grew hops to brew his own beer and planted a grape arbor, his wife said.

“His goal was to make wine with his own grapes,” she said.

When not spending time outside, he was an avid reader, she said.

Other survivors include his sister, Michele Hansen, of rural Omaha.

Services for Dr. Hansen were Monday at First United Methodist Church.

~~~ Obituaries courtesy of the Washington County Genealogical Society. Newspaper clippings on file in the Blair Public Library at Blair, Nebraska.~~~