Name: Margaret
Hansen aka Maggie
Called by Grandkids:
Nana
Birth: 1919,
Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Death: 2010,
Issaquah, Washington
Spouse: Sam
Hillinger
Marriage: 1948, Frankfurt, Germany
Children: Two
boys, two girls, unnamed here as all are still alive.
Parents: Holger
Skov Hansen and Julie Oline Hansen.
Siblings: Marilyn
and Torben.
About: Maggie was
the first child of three born to Holger and Oline Hansen, Danish immigrants.
She grew up in a happy home, her father building houses, her mother tending to
the children and their home and sewing. Unfortunately, Oline got Pneumonia in
1929 and died, and Maggie did not get along with her new stepmother or step
sisters. She left to go to boarding school, which set her up as a secretary
immediately after she graduated. In 1942, when the WAC corps were created, she
was quick to volunteer, along with her younger sister. She moved around the
states during the war, climbing the ranks until she achieved one of the highest
ranks for a woman at the time. Once the war was over, she volunteered to go to
Europe to help with rebuilding, and ended up near Frankfurt on the base there.
While there were few places one could easily relax in Europe at the time, the Army had set up special trips to vacation spots for the volunteers, and so it was that Maggie found herself headed to St Moritz. On that train ride she met a young private, Sam Hillinger, and together they learned to ski. After returning to the base, the two continued to date, and in 1948, they were married. Their first child, my father, followed soon after, and the couple returned to the states once he was old enough to travel so Sam could get his degree. After his graduation, the family moved again, this time to Seattle, where our family has resided ever since.
Sam and Maggie had four children, six grandchildren, and now have four great grandchildren. They lived long and happy lives together until Sam's death in 2000. Maggie continued to stay as active as she could, though she slowed down quite a bit after that, moving from their large house in North Seattle to a small apartment in a retirement community, and then to a nursing home near her two daughters near the end of her life. She died in 2010 surrounded by memories and family.
We still miss her.
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