BOONE, Iowa—Services have been set for R. Melvin Hanson who passed away in Sun Lakes, Arizona, January 7, 2021. Graveside services, with Military Honors, will be held in the Linwood Park Cemetery in Boone, Iowa at 10:00 a.m. January 24, 2021. Location close to the office. A Celebration of Life and lite lunch will be held at the Erb Center located in the Boone County Fairgrounds from 11:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m.
Reinhold Melvin Hanson was born in Boone, Iowa on January 15, 1930 to Reinhold Magnus Hanson and Stella C. Hanson (Meyer). He graduated from Boone High School in 1948 and attended Boone Junior College and AIB in Des Moines, Iowa.
After college graduation in 1951, and as a member of the Iowa Air National Guard, His unit was activated at the beginning of the Korean Conflict. He was stationed at Dow Air Force Base in Bangor, Maine.
Returning to Boone in 1952, he went to work in the family business (S. Hanson Lumber Co., Inc.). In 1962, he left to form his own export-import business. He also developed and patented an electric sauna bath heating unit, marketing though a dealer network. In 1966 he sold the sauna business and returned to manage the family business. He expanded the business, adding several more locations throughout central Iowa. The last lumber yard, located in Fort Dodge, Iowa was closed in November 2004.
In the early 1980’s, he helped organize and was one of the original incorporators of the Boone Railroad Historical Society, aka, The Boone and Scenic Valley Railroad. Being an officer and a director of the society, he helped develop the society to what it is today. In early 1988, he won a trip to Bangkok, awarded by the Georgia-Pacific Corporation. He took this opportunity to visit the Datong Locomotive Works in China to explore the possibility of acquiring a new engine. In 1989, to locomotive was purchased by the society.
He enjoyed traveling the world and rode trains whenever possible.
Mel was united in marriage with Gloria Carmen of Des Moines, Iowa in August 1949. From this union were five children: Chris, Dave, Ross, Kirk and Nikki. The couple later divorced in 1973.
Mel was preceded in death by his parents, his sister Darlene Ahrens, his brother-in-law, David Boehm, and his son Chris. He is survived by four children, Dave Hanson, Ross Hanson (Gerlie) of Arizona, Kirk Hanson of Arizona and daughter Nikki Hanson-Mullins (Tim) of Boone, five grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, his sister Joreen Boehm of Boone and brother-in-law, Arnold Ahrens of Boone.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be directed to the Mel Hanson Family, c/o Nikki Mullins, 333 South Greene Street, Boone, Iowa 50036 for later designation or to the Boone and Scenic Valley Railroad.
