Walker-Eastman-Heydinger Funeral Home
98 W. Main St.
Norwalk, OH 44857
Phone: 419.663.4513
Fax: 419.663.6809
Cell Phone: 419.663.3504
Email: wehfh@eastmanfuneralhome.com
Website: https://www.eastmanfuneralhome.com/norwalk
View All Obituaries from Walker-Eastman-Heydinger Funeral Home
Muriel Adele Marie Andersen Hanson died peacefully Thanksgiving morning November 26, 2015, at Fisher Titus Norwalk Memorial Home, a residence she called home since the spring of 2011.
Muriel was born on May 3, 1918 on the island of St. Croix, shortly after the United States purchased the Virgin Islands from Denmark for twenty five million dollars in gold bullion.
Her father, Folmer Andersen, born in Denmark, was a graduate of Copenhagen Polytechnic Institute, with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He arrived in St. Croix about 1914 and soon became the Managing Director of the Bethlehem Sugar Factory. Her mother was Julia Vittozzi Andersen, whose father, Carlo Vittozzi, a gifted musician and teacher, was Concertmaster at the New York Philharmonic, circa 1912. He also assisted John Phillip Sousa in composing the orchestration of many of his marches. The family resided in the great house at Golden Grove. Her father also served on the Colonial Council, along with Dr. Canegata, who presided at Muriel's birth.
During the off-season at Bethlehem, Folmer Andersen, together with his able assistant, Samuel Simmons, did many archaeological digs at various sites of the pre-Columbian native Indians of the Carib and Arawak tribes. In the ensuing years after moving to Hempstead, Long Island, Folmer Andersen cleaned, restored, and categorized by photos and drawings, the artifacts, which are now in the possession of the U.S. National Park Service at Fort Christiansvern in Christiansted, St. Croix.
Often Muriel would relate stories of her early life in St. Croix, and of her travel at age 13 by steamship from St. Croix to New York City. After graduating from Hempstead High School, she attended Hofstra College and later Traphagen School of Fashion.
Before World War ll Muriel met "the man she wanted to marry," Henry N. Hanson, of Mt. Vernon, NY. They were married at the Garden City Cathedral NY.
Their first child, Henry Nicholas Hanson, Jr, was born while Henry was in the US Army serving in India during World War II. When Capt. Hanson returned, they lived in Rockville Centre, NY, Indianapolis, IN, Florham Park, NJ, Snyder, NY, and Norwalk, OH, where he died in 1971. Following that, for seventeen years, Muriel heartily enjoyed her work at the front desk and in the reference department at the Norwalk Public Library, where she made many new friends and acquaintances.
A member of the Shakespeare Club, the Tuesday Club, the Norwalk Historical Society, the Norwalk Garden Club, and St. Paul's Episcopal Church, she also served as a Cub Scout leader and a Pink Lady volunteer at the hospital. Hobbies included reading history and knitting, and in her later years, she became an avid Cleveland Indians baseball fan.
Muriel was predeceased by her parents, two brothers, Earle Andersen and Norman Andersen, a sister Virginia Andersen Tomlin, and three sisters-in-law, Albena Andersen, Virginia Andersen, and Bettina Andersen. She is survived by her brother Roland Andersen of Orinda, CA, her centenarian brother-in-law Carl F. Tomlin of Ocala, FL, her son Henry Nicholas Hanson and Janice Rogers Hanson of Charlottesville, VA, her daughter Muriel Hanson Falborn and Robert Falborn of Sag Harbor, NY, her son Arthur Taber Hanson and Cindy Ann Williams of Salem, OR, and many loving nieces and nephews.
Donations in Muriel's memory may be sent to the Norwalk Public Library in Norwalk, OH or to the Folmer Andersen Collection at the Museum in Christiansted, St. Croix, Virgin Islands or to a charity of choice.
Burial of her remains will be next to her husband at Milan Cemetery, and a Memorial Service and reception for her many friends will be held in the spring of 2016.
Walker Funeral Home, 98 West Main St. Norwalk, Ohio is in charge of arrangements.
Online condolences may be made by going to www.edwalkerfuneralhome.com.
