Bonnie Lou Hanson, 74, passed away from dementia and Parkinson’s Disease on October 31, 2020. She was born on February 12, 1946 to Melvin Smithen, and Gayle (MacIntyre) Smithen in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Her family moved from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles, California where Bonnie became passionate about dance and eventually studied ballet with a Russian coach. Her family then moved to Wichita, Kansas when she was in 9th grade. Bonnie attended North High School in Wichita and was a cheerleader before she went on to attend Wichita State University. Bonnie and Bob met on a blind date and then were married a year later on August 27th, 1966. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Education from WSU and went on to teach elementary children in the local Wichita schools for five years. Bonnie and Bob lived in Wichita their entire marriage, with the exception of 18 months where they lived in Denver, CO where Chris was born, and later for another 18 months in Dallas, TX where they had their second son Craig. They then returned to Kansas where Bonnie was a full time housewife and mother prior to co-founding a dance/fitness business called Aerobicise. The company expanded to as many as 57 instructors, and then after several years, Bonnie decided to pursue another career. That was when she joined Weigand-Omega Management, a business Bob co-founded in 1976. Bonnie became the Human Resource Director for the company and had a successful career until her health prevented her from continuing and she retired around 2005.
Bonnie spent her life serving others, and had a special place in her heart for serving children. She was a board member of KETCH (the Kansas Elks Training Center Housing), the Kansas Children’s Service League, St. Francis Community Services, Westlink Church of Christ’s Benevolence Committee, and a volunteer at The Lord’s Diner.
Bonnie is preceded in death by her parents. She is survived by her loving husband, Robert “Bob” Hanson; sons, Craig (Nichole) Hanson and Christopher (Wendy) Hanson; brother, Glen Smithen; and grandchildren, Cole, Sydney, Noah, Ian, Luke, Mabel, Gavin, and Tristan.
In lieu of joining us in person, we sincerely request that you join the Memorial Service online and celebrate Bonnie’s life together with us. The Memorial will be livestreamed at 10:00 AM CST, Wednesday, November 18th at https://wildoakfilms.com/hanson-celebration - we are truly sorry we can’t all be together in person, but hopefully this still connects us all to the event. We are grateful for your prayers, memories, and love.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you donate to My Neighbor’s Keeper, c/o Weigand-Omega Management, 333 S. Broadway, Wichita, KS 67202 where the Hanson’s are setting up a Bonnie L. Hanson Scholarship Fund for Weigand-Omega Management and Omega Senior Living associates to pursue education and development opportunities (something Bonnie was passionate about) https://weigandomega.com/who-we-are/giving-back/ ; or to the Alzheimer’s Association online at https://act.alz.org/site/Donation2?df_id=32112&32112.donation=form1&_ga=2.11530097.498238998.1604343951-1423386401.1604343951 or by mailing a check to Alzheimer’s Association, 225 N. Michigan Ave. Floor 17, Chicago, IL 60601.
