Kenneth Ray Hansen, Sr.

Kenneth Ray Hansen Sr, 69, passed away quietly at his home on December 9, 2013, surrounded by many of his close friends and family. Ken was born to Ada and Lester on June 8, 1944, in Fontana, California as number 13 of 15 children. Ken would go on spend the next 59 years there until moving to Yucaipa California for the last 10 years of his life. He attended Fontana High School; home of the "Steelers" and directly after school he enlisted in the Navy and spent the next 3 years in the Vietnam War aboard the USS Higbee. When he received his Honorable discharge in 1965, he headed back to Fontana where he would again become a "Steeler", this time at Kaiser Steel. Shortly there after, one of his lifelong friends would introduce him to his wife Patricia. Again, not ever making a rash decision, he waited a year to get the courage to ask her out. She must have really swooped him off his feet on that date though, as they were then married 6 months later and lived "Happily Ever After", for the next 47 years. He continued to work at Kaiser Steel as an electrician until it closed and was taken over by California Steel, where he was hired, essentially working at the same place for 47 years, until he was medically retired. He is now survived by his wife Tish, of 47 years; Daughter April, also of Yucaipa, son Kenneth of Redlands Ca, son Randall of Riverside Ca, 13 grand children, 3 great grand children and 1 dog named Maggie. If you knew Ken, you would know how much he loved his dog, making her just as much a part of the family. As you can see from the statements above, Ken was a rock solid man. He was one of the best. A breed of man that is very rare these days. He had the highest level of integrity and work ethic. No matter what the problem was, he had the solution and probably the part to fix it right there in the garage. He was as patient as they come, not only with problems, but with people too. He always had a way of seeing what was truly important and forgiving the rest, even if it was wrecking the whole side of a 1969 Camaro SS, he would simply say, "Are you okay, as long as you are okay, then the rest can be fixed". And that is what he did...he fixed. He fixed us all in his own quiet, slow, subtle ways. And at the end of the day you could find him in the garage...contemplating and planning...or simply reminiscing...with two bud lights, his neighbor Darryl and his dog Maggie.