Parcourez la nécrologie de Hans Helin Andersen June 2 1921 February 12 2025 103 Years Old résidant dans la province Manitoba pour le détail des funérailles
Hans Andersen Obituary
Hans Helin Andersen, born on 02 June 1921 in Tyndall, Manitoba passed peacefully on 12 Feb 2025 in Burnaby, British Columbia. He was 103 years, 8 months, and 10 days old.
The son of immigrants from Denmark and Finland, Hans grew up near Tyndall, in Winnipeg, and around the Woodside area in Manitoba with his parents and younger brother Nels. His four older siblings all left home by the time Hans was 10 years old, though they would often return home to visit.
A member of the Greatest Generation, Hans learned hard work and survival from his parents. Hans’ family struggled in Tyndall so around 1929 at the beginning of the Great Depression they moved to Winnipeg. They rented a small house, shared with another family, but the store they ran was not successful in these hard times. In 1932 they sold everything for two horses, a wagon, and a plow and moved to the Nora School district in the Woodside area.
At the beginning of World War 2, in 1939, Hans’ two older brothers, Kristian and Diver, joined the Army in Vancouver. Returning home to the Yukon from his recruitment process, Diver was killed in an airplane crash, and Hans lost his first brother.
Hans joined the Royal Winnipeg Rifles on 25 June 1940 at the age of 19. He conducted his final training in Halifax before deploying to the United Kingdom on 28 August 1941. There, he changed units to the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada to be with his older brother, Kristian. He partook in the invasion of Sicily and Italy. He was stricken with malaria and was evacuated to north Africa to have his appendix removed, then returned to duty in Italy. His brother Kristian was wounded and sent home. Hans was taken prisoner by the Germans on 23 May 1944 during the battle to break the Hitler Line north of Cassino, Italy. He was moved north to Germany where he remained a Prisoner of War in Stalag 7A until he was liberated and listed as safe in the United Kingdom on 16 May of 1945. During his 11 months in captivity, Hans’ brother Nels was killed in action when his Halifax Bomber aircraft crashed in Germany on 21 Feb 1945. Hans had lost his second brother, and one whom he was very close to. Hans returned to Canada after the war and release from the Army on 29 September 1945.
Hans moved back to Woodside and took over the family farm from his parents who retired to Vancouver in 1948.
Hans married Thelma Sneesby on 6 November 1948. They spent a few months in Vancouver, then returned to the Nora farm. In November of 1952, with their three young daughters: Darlene, Helen, and Judith, they moved closer to Thelma’s parents where they established their Woodside farm. This move changed the struggle from dry wind, dust, and flies to Spring flooding. At their new farm, they would have one more daughter, Caroline, and their son, Calvin. As a pioneer famer, Hans was a tradesman in multiple skills, many of them self-taught like welding and black smithing, building his own forge and fabricating farm implements. Their farming practices changed over the years from pigs to cattle then eventually grain. Their children would grow up and leave the farm so in 1982, Hans and Thelma sold it and retired to Gladstone, Manitoba.
Hans was an active member of his community, including a member of the Royal Canadian Legion. He worked on the local ambulance. He enjoyed square dancing, curling, bird carving, and gardening. He also enjoyed road trips across western Canada to visit family and explore the country. His wife Thelma passed on 22 November 1995.
Hans moved to Penticton, British Columbia in June of 1996 where he met Midge Carroll. Hans moved to Coquitlam, British Columbia on 09 December 1996, where Midge lived, and they married on 26 December 1996. He would continue to square dance and travel and enjoy his well-earned retirement with Midge and his new family. Hans and Midge moved to Maple Ridge, British Columbia in 2010 where he remained an active member of the Royal Canadian Legion, placing the Prisoner of War memorial wreath every year at the Remembrance Day ceremony until age 101, when he was unable to physically attend the ceremonies.
Hans is predeceased by his first wife Thelma Emeline née Sneesby and second wife Marie (Midge) Helene née Walker, formerly Carroll. He is also pre-deceased by his parents Hans Peter Andersen and Hulda Karolina nee Hellén, Luhtaa, his siblings: Ingeborg Lucy Judith Helen Walmsley (formerly Leach, and before Halford), Kristian Hellin, Doiva (Diver) Hellin, Marie Fanny Helga Hellien Hatfield (formerly Nilson), twins Fritz and Hans (died in infancy), and Nels Peter Helin. Hans is also predeceased by his son-in-law Ken Hook. Hans was the only child of Hans Peter and Hulda to have children. Hans is survived by his children Darlene and her husband John Brown and their children Lisa and Jason and one grandchild, Helen and her husband Henry Kopp and their three children Kerry, Christopher, and Tarin and four grandchildren and three great grandchildren, Judith and Guy Comeault and their child Michelle and her two children, Caroline and Ian Chapman and their two children Michael and Stuart, Calvin and his two children Leah and Hans, and one grandchild, and Penney Hook and her two children Robert (Bob) and James (Jim) and four grandchildren.
Donations in lieu of flowers can be made in Hans’ name to the Royal Canadian Legion.
Details regarding his celebration of life will be posted at a later date. Please check Clarke’s Funeral Home website for details in May 2025 for a likely early June date.
June 2 1921 February 12 2025 103 Years Old
Nos plus sincères sympathies à la famille et aux amis de Hans Helin Andersen June 2 1921 February 12 2025 103 Years Old..
Décès pour la Ville: Gladstone, Province: Manitoba
avis deces Hans Helin Andersen June 2 1921 February 12 2025 103 Years Old
necrologie Hans Helin Andersen June 2 1921 February 12 2025 103 Years Old
Nous offrons nos plus sincères condoléances à la famille et aux amis de Hans Helin Andersen June 2 1921 February 12 2025 103 Years Old et espérons que leur mémoire pourra être une source de réconfort pendant cette période difficile. Vos pensées et vos mots aimables sont grandement appréciés.