- Date Of Birth: July 22, 1914
- Date Of Death: August 25, 2004
- State: Illinois
Wilbur H. Hansen, 90, of Rockford, formerly of Freeport, died Wednesday, August 25, 2004 in Rockford.Born July 22, 1914 in Racine, Wisconsin, he was the son of Andrew and Otillia (Wingreen) Hansen.
He married Marjorie H. Wheeland October 4, 1951 in Freeport.After graduating with honors in 1932 from Horlick High School in Racine he joined the Civilian Conservation Corps and assisted in building Starved Rock State Park as well as other projects. His love for the outdoors developed when he worked in the Minnesota Boundary Waters as a guide at Gateway Lodge, Hungry Jack Lake, on the Gunflint Trail. In 1938 he spent 2 years working in Idaho and Oregon as a lumberjack. In 1940 he enlisted in the Army Air Corps and was trained as an instructor in engine maintenance for B17 bombers. During the war he reached the rank of Staff Sergeant and served in England.
He was honorably discharged in 1945 after 5 years of service.He returned to the Gunflint Trail in Minnesota and resumed his work as a canoe guide while beginning a search for a suitable site for a resort of his own. In 1949 he purchased an old sawmill and farm with 1000 feet of shoreline on Bowstring Lake in Minnesota.He built it into a successful business called Hansen’s Camp, which he owned and operated until 1972, when he sold and moved to Freeport. The resort is still in operation under the name Geiger’s Trails End.He was building manager of the Freeport Masonic Temple for many years until his retirement.
He was stage manager of the Freeport Scottish Rite Bodies.His memberships included First Lutheran Church, 33rd degree Mason of Evergreen Masonic Lodge no. 170, for which he was a past Master and past Secretary, Rockford Tebala Drum and Bugle Corps, Freeport Consistory, Scottish Rite and York Rite Bodies, White Shrine of Jerusalem, Eastern Star, Red Cross of Constantine, and VFW.
He served as secretary for both High Twelve International and Golden K Kiwanis, of which he was a charter member. For many years he did stage work for Winneshiek Theatre, volunteered with youth in local schools, and served the Jane Addams Mental Health Center as a carpenter and handyman. He leaves a long legacy of dedicated, quiet service to the Freeport community, with affiliations too numerous to list.
