Dennis Hansen

Dennis Gene Hansen, age 68, of West Des Moines, died Friday, March 8, 2019 at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. Dennis Gene Hansen was born December 21, 1950 in Carroll, Iowa. The son of Stewart and LeNore Hansen. He grew up in West Des Moines and graduated from Valley High School in 1969. He loved to play baseball and was an all-state pitcher. He enlisted in the US Navy and was stationed in North Carolina and Cuba. After the service he returned to Des Moines and began working with his father Stew in the car business. His mother recalls at the age of 3, Dennis knew makes and models of cars, thus encouraging his love for cars. Dennis had a great opportunity to move to Nashville and start his own dealership; Hansen, Chrysler Jeep. He lived in that area for 25 years and established the role of President of the Tennessee Automotive Association. He also had a love for his Nashville Predators Hockey Team. In July of 2011 Dennis moved back to West Des Moines to be closer to his parents and family, where he became an Iowa Hawkeyes fan, but always loved his Alabama Crimson Tide football. “Roll Tide Roll.” Dennis was a member of St. Francis of Assisi Parish in West Des Moines where he and Jodi were active members. He enjoyed working with RCIA and loved meeting new people and helping with hospitality and discipleship. He and Jodi enjoyed traveling and going to Florida for the winter to visit his children and grandchildren. He loved gardening and working in the yard as well as helping and visiting his neighbors. Dennis had a great sense of humor and loved life. He had the best smile and a huge heart for helping others. Dennis did not lose his battle with cancer. He lived graciously and courageously with it until the very end. Cancer does not care who it takes or who it hurts. It comes into your life and begins to break the threads that hold you together and you’re left to see pieces of yourself slip away and dreams fade… We clung to each other only with pure love and faith binding us. In the end is when the most amazing thing happens, cancer loses its strength and grace appears. We need to see it, we learn to accept it, and our faith grows so grace and love can win, not cancer. Those left to cherish Dennis’ memory include his parents; Stewart and LeNore Hansen, his wife; Joleen (Jodi) Hansen, his daughters; Heather Jackson, Katie (Nate) Larson, son; Jonathan Hansen, his sisters; Mary (Steve) Madison, Julie (John) Phillips, his brother; Brent (Rosa) Hansen, his grandchildren; Grace, Audrey, Bishop, Eva LeNore, Lily, and Owen as well as his dogs; Rosa and Isabell. Also, many close family members and friends. He was preceded in death by his grandparents. Memorial contributions can be made to St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church or to Dennis’ family in his name so they can help other families struggling with the financial burden that cancer causes.