Helaine Annette Hanson, 82, of Roseau, Minnesota passed away peacefully on August 9, 2021 at Warroad Senior Living Center in Warroad, Minnesota surrounded by her loving family.
A 10:00 AM Celebration of Life Service held in her honor, will be officiated by Pastor Calvin Lindstrom, on Saturday, August 14th, at Helgeson Funeral Home, in Roseau, with a visitation prior to the service at 9:00 AM. Burial will be at First Lutheran Cemetery in Middle River, Minnesota, following the service.
Helaine was born in Newfolden, Minnesota on December 16, 1938 to Arvid and Hattie (Borsvold) Wikstrom. After graduating from Newfolden High School in 1956, she worked at Woolworth’s in Thief River Falls. Helaine then moved to Waukegan, Illinois where she married Carl Hanson, on April 24, 1959. While residing in Waukegan, Carl and Helaine were blessed with a daughter, Pamela, and son, Stephen. While raising her young children, Helaine was employed outside of the home at National Press Company and later Montgomery Ward in Waukegan.
In 1968, the young married couple “missed the northland” and moved to Roseau, living on Center Street until 1970 when they built their forever home on Oak Drive, where Helaine resided until 2013, then moving to the Warroad Senior Living Center. Helaine enjoyed her clerical employment with Polaris Industries and then working as a billing clerk for Roseau Electric Cooperative until her retirement in 2004.
Helaine and Carl were inseparable partners and loved being together. They learned to dance at classes held at the Roseau City Auditorium. They could be found “cutting the rug” anywhere there was music and a dance floor. Music was an important part of their lives, whether listening to their extensive record collection or attending vocal music and band concerts of their children and grandchildren. They truly treasured their trips to madrigal dinners and concert choirs at Bemidji State University and Indiana University. In addition to attending music concerts, Helaine enjoyed cheering on her children and grandchildren at sporting events from golf tournaments, football, volleyball, track, and basketball games to watching the girls cheerleading for the Roseau Rams!
Helaine had a passion for exercise; she could be seen walking or biking to work in the summer, no matter the weather (she had a coat for all contingencies)! In her early years, she was a devoted Jack LaLanne fan doing his stretching exercises on the kitchen floor every morning. After an outing, Helaine would often ask Carl to drop her off a mile from their house so she could get that little extra walk in.
Hobbies for Helaine included taking care of the neighborhood birds which she enjoyed watching with her morning cup of coffee. She had an extensive collection of bird houses, snowmen, and all holiday decorations. Helaine participated in a weekly bowling league and enjoyed golfing on a beautiful summer day with Carl. Winters in this beautiful country were not a time to cozy up to the fire for Helaine and Carl. Weekends were filled with many snowmobiling adventures to friends and families cabins in the woods. The time between Christmas and New Years was also made memorable with the anticipation of the Seasonal Julebukking tradition. The annual family summer trip was a highlight with many adventures and memories created and captured on film. She was the family memory keeper with volumes of meticulous photo albums lovingly left for future generations to admire. There was nothing that Mom and Dad enjoyed more than taking a drive or meeting friends for conversation, a bite to eat and always, many cups of coffee.
Helaine, is survived by daughter, Pamela (Douglas) Hanson-Peterson, Port Orange, Florida, and their son Nathaniel Peterson, of Valrico, Florida; son, Stephen (Pamela) Hanson, Roseau, and their daughters, Kjirsten (Scott) Wood and daughter Harleigh of Fargo, North Dakota, Ana-Alicia (Adam) Crist of WestFargo, North Dakota, and Amy Hanson of Grand Forks, North Dakota; sisters Beulah Wikstrom of Glenwood, Minnesota and Myrtle Janssen of Alexandria, Minnesota. Helaine was preceded in death by her devoted husband of 57 years Carl Hanson, her parents, twin brothers Dennis and Dallas Wikstrom, and infant daughter, Janet Kaye Hanson.
The family would like to sincerely thank the many friends and family members whose kind words, prayers, and thoughtful deeds kept Helaine, and her family comforted through her end-of-life journey. We would also like to give special thanks to the wonderful staff at the Warroad Senior Living Center, who looked over Helaine for so many years and displayed such compassionate care in her final days.
Last modified: 08/13/2021
