- Date Of Birth: May 14, 1918
- Date Of Death: December 26, 2009
- State: Iowa
Charmion Venita Hanson was born May 14, 1918, in Oneida, Iowa, the youngest of five children of Bertel Kris and Thea Olive (Bang) Hanson.
She grew up in Oneida with her siblings, Rose, Pearl, Ruby, and Otis. Charm attended school in Oneida where she was active in basketball and music. She graduated from Oneida High School in 1935.
Her family owned the barber shop in Oneida, that later included a general store, hardware store and pool hall. Her father also sold ice that he would harvest from the creek near Oneida. Charm had lots of opportunities to practice playing pool, and became quite a pool shark.
Her father passed away in 1936, leaving Charm and her mother to run the store. Charm then had to learn to change the oil in cars and to pump gas.
In 1939, Charm married Burton Stephenson. The couple bought the store’s inventory and ran it for about three years. At that time, Charm’s mother sold the building, so the couple purchased a grocery store in Arlington, Iowa.
