As an educator, citizen, Hansen helped many here

Posted: 2/1/06

As an educator, citizen, Hansen helped many here

It was clearly evident in Mark Hansenís life that some 36 years of work in education was not a sufficient contribution to society.

In nearly eight years of retirement, Hansen filled his days by finding more ways to give more service to his community.

He did it as a volunteer at Faith Lutheran Church and a participant in one outreach to Tanzania. He did it as a volunteer with local VFWís Fare For All program to help Hmong refugees in St. Paul. He did it through countless hours of volunteer service to the Community Scholarship Foundation.

Hansen was helping in another volunteer capacity on Tuesday, Jan. 24 when he died. Hansen had made a delivery to a resident of North Shore Apartments when he fell victim to a sudden heart attack or stroke, said his wife, Gwen Hansen.

Mark Hansen was 68.

For Gwen Hansen, the life and work of her husband was an ever-changing march to work for the betterment of kids, education and society. That never stopped when the husband-wife team retired from the Forest Lake Area Schools in 1998.

ìWeíre not retired, weíre refocused,î Hansen said, repeating the theme for how they looked at their retirement years.

Life in FL

Mark Hansen spent 35 years in the local public school system teaching art at the high school level and later working as a curriculum coordinator.

Gwen Hansen said no matter what her husband was doing, the work of the day was the most important task.

But as a high school teacher, she said Mark always appreciated the ìone on oneî time he spent with students.

The Hansens came to Forest Lake in 1963 with Mark teaching art and Gwen science.

Mark Hansen was born on July 16, 1937 in Vermilion, SD, and graduated high school there in 1955 and continued his education by earning a degree in art from South Dakota State University in 1959. He met his wife to be at the Lutheran Student Association at the college.

Hansen was an ROTC student while at SDSU. After two years of teaching in the Vermilion public school system, Hansen earned a commission in the Army as a second lieutenant. He spent most of his two-year enlistment at Fort Lewis, WA. He left the service as a first lieutenant and passed up an appointment to captain to work in education.

The Hansens arrived in Forest Lake in 1963 thanks to a tip from his sister, Gwen (Bob) Johnson who lived in Forest Lake and knew of the art department position.

During his years in Forest Lake, Hansen was involved on the local, state and national levels in helping promote art as a curriculum.

For the final six years of his career in ISD 831, Hansen served as an art curriculum coordinator. He was deeply involved with the National Art Educators Association and earned the honor of state and national art teacher of the year. He was also one of 15 educators named to the National Board of Professional Teacher Standards.

On the local scene, Hansen was involved in curriculum issues and programs to help staff earn advanced college degrees to enhance their teaching ability.

He served two terms as president of the Forest Lake Education Association and was a friend and mentor to many young teachers coming into the school system.