TUSCALOOSA On November 19, 2013, at UAB Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama, Wanda Dunn Hanson, 67, of Tuscaloosa, died following a four-year struggle with neuroendocrine tumor cancer.
Like many little girls growing up, Wanda Hanson said she used to look up at the stars at night and pray that her future husband would be looking at those very same stars, thinking of someday finding her, as she was thinking of someday finding him. She dreamed of having a family of her own. A family she could pour her love into, and a family who would love her, too.
Those dreams sound simple, but like her husband of 47 years might say, “any good coach will tell you that to have success you have to focus on the fundamentals and the details.” That's what love requires, and that's what Wanda did.
Her family knows her as Momma or Gran. She made the little things feel special, whether by how she decorated her house, or how she would make something sweet to have with a cup of afternoon coffee. Wanda was a wonderful cook, who always had something good for people to eat when they came to visit. She was a good listener, and a working mother, who spent nearly 40 years in the banking industry.
Most of all, though, she was a strong Christian, and God's Word was the source of her strength. Her heart was for the Lord, and for her family, in that order. She seemed to die too soon, but God did not take her before answering those prayers she used to say as a little girl. Her family wants her to know her dreams were realized. We received her love, and we love her, too. She will always be Momma and Gran to us.
In addition to Buddy, her husband, Wanda is survived by her son, Drew (Rebecca), her daughter, Mary Katharine (Richard Davenport), and seven grandchildren, Andrew, John, Hanson Ellis, Parker, Patterson, Kate, and Olivia. Wanda is also survived by her brother James, and sisters, Peggy and Teresa.
A visitation will be held Friday, November 22, between 4:30 and 6:30 p.m., at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that contributions be made to the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center, GI Oncology Research, in memory of Wanda Hanson. .
Published in Tuscaloosa News on Nov. 21, 2013
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