Ellen Nichols Hansen (98 years old), was born Easter Sunday, April 4, 1920 in Azusa, California and died January 22, 2019, in Provo, Utah. Ellen is the mother of 6, grandmother of 39, great-grandmother of 110, and great-great-grandmother of 4, and counting. Her legacy is her family, whom she adored, and was so proud of every accomplishment of each of the 150+ members.
Ellen was the 6th of 10 children born to Charles Leslie Nichols and Mary Emuline Murphy. All 10 kids lived to adulthood, including 2 set of fraternal twins. She spent most of her growing up years in Glendale, where she qualified for the California State Spelling Bee in 8th grade, placing 6th in the state (winning $10 – a large sum for 1934), graduated from Hoover High in 1938, and attended Occidental College on scholarship.
One Christmas break during those Oxy years, Ellen worked at Bullock’s Department Store in downtown L. A., where she met Bill Hansen, who also worked there. Their first date wasn’t until April, but after 18 days, they knew they were meant for each other. They married on November 29, 1941, 1 week before the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the start of WWII.
They were later sealed in the Mesa Arizona temple in 1952, along with their 4 boys. Growing up in Southern California, Mom had a special place in her heart for the beach. When she and Dad finally decided to move to Utah, she would talk of missing the warm weather and the ocean.
However, she loved the mountains, too, and spent many camping trips of her youth in the Sierra Nevadas. Ellen loved being the matriarch of a large family, gardening, singing in the choir, gardening, helping others, and gardening. She also like being involved in grassroots politics, campaigning for local candidates she supported.
Her breakfasts were legendary and many generations benefit from her pie-making talents. She and Bill served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to the Mexico Merida mission from 1982 to 1984. Once she joined the Church in 1951, she never wavered, serving wherever she was asked to serve.
She was choice disciple of our Savior Jesus Christ. Ellen is preceded in death by her parents, all 9 siblings, husband, son Merrill, son-in-law Jeff Facer, granddaughter Maren, and granddaughter-in-law Alice. She’s survived by her sons, Gary (Susan), Russell (Tawnya), Dennis (Sharma), and daughters, Drusilla (Buck) Willhite, and Leslie (David) Smoot and many, many more descendants.
Funeral services will be Monday, January 28, at 11:00 AM in the Orem Canyon View 5th Ward at 1090 North 400 East, Orem, UT. Friends may call at 10 that morning at the church or Sunday, January 27, from 6 – 8 PM at the church.
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