Ramon De Vere Hansen dies at 97

Apr 1, 2024

JULIA HUNTER
Wisconsin Newspaper Association

Ramon De Vere “Ray” Hansen, former owner of the Waushara Argus in Wautoma, Wisconsin, died on Feb. 11 at Good Samaritan Center, Olathe, Kansas. He was 97.

Born to to Raymond Earl and Minnie Marie (Lucina) Daniel Hansen on April 28, 1926, in Bloomfield, Nebraska, he graduated Bloomfield High School in 1944 and joined the U.S. Navy.

Following his discharge in June 1946, Hansen attended the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism, graduating with honors in 1949.

He began his journalism career as a reporter for the Lincoln Journal, followed by a position in Washington, D.C., where he covered the U.S. Senate. After working in communications for eight years, he moved back to the Midwest to pursue his love of journalism and his dream of owning a newspaper.

Hansen purchased the Waushara Argus in Wautoma, in October 1959, selling the newspaper in 1964 before moving to Kansas.

He married Donna Delight Toepper on March 13, 1965, and she joined him in the newspaper business. Throughout their 56-year marriage, the couple owned community newspapers in Kansas, Arkansas and New York.

Hansen retired in 2001 at the age of 75. During his retirement, he wrote and published four books, completing his last book, “30 – My Newspaper Life,” at the age of 92.

A military graveside service will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, April 26, at Fort Scott National Cemetery, with a private burial in Bloomfield, Nebraska, at a later date.