Luise Hanson

Luise (Niemann) Hanson, 95, passed away Wednesday, April 29, 2015, after a short illness.

Memorial services will be held Thursday, May 7, at 11 a.m. at the Saco Methodist Church. Cremation has taken place.

She was born March 12, 1920, in Milwaukee, Wis., to Dr. Arthur and Nancy Niemann. She graduated from high school there and attended college at Lawrence University, completing a history and political science degree. She then attended Duke University in North Carolina and finished her law degree at the University of Michigan in 1944, at a time when few women were in this field.

While working at a Milwaukee bank, she decided to try something totally different. She applied for a teaching job at the small town of Saco, and although she had no teaching credentials, her law degree must have given her enough credibility to get the job.

After teaching school one year, she met Moral Hanson and they married on July 17, 1947. They raised three children while farming and ranching and lived on the family homestead near Forks during the summer and in Saco during the winter. In 1969 they purchased the Frank Hedges' ranch northwest of Saco and made this their permanent home. She was able to remain in her family ranch home until just a few days before her passing.

Luise, originally a big city girl, was very active in the farming and ranching right from the start, from hauling wheat to the elevator to all aspects of ranch work. She made "pets" of many cows and kept cattle records with all the details of every birth. Many chilled calves were warmed up in her bathtub over the years! Even as recently as a few weeks prior to her passing, she was hand-feeding cow pellets out her pickup window. She was always an animal lover, especially cats and dogs. Even though she had minimal cooking experience before coming to Montana, she became a great cook, as can be attested to, not only by her family but by every ranch hand, mechanic, salesman or delivery person who happened to stop in.

She and Moral were fortunate to have had the opportunity to travel together to places such as Thailand, Bolivia, Hawaii, Alaska and much of Montana, as well as in her later years to Belize and China.

She was very active in the Saco Women's Club, school functions and community projects. She was a member of the Saco Methodist Church since 1946, and gifted the round stained glass window during the 100th church celebration in 2003.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Moral, in 2003.

Survivors include three children, James of Saco, Pat Hanson and Maury Anderson of Libby, and Nancy Kay Hanson and Tim Wilson of Xiamen, China; one sister, Nancy Axvig of Missoula; and one nephew, Ole Axvig of Laramie, Wyo.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to the Saco Methodist Church or Saco Emergency Services. Condolences for the family may be left at http://www.kirkwooodfuneralhome.com,

Kirkwood Funeral Home in Malta is in charge of arrangements.