Donna Delight (Dehling) Hansen, who started her longtime career in newspapers at the Waushara Argus in Wautoma, died Monday, Aug. 30, in Olathe, Kan. She was 84.
Born Jan. 7, 1937, in Sault Saint Marie, Mich., she was the daughter of Lester and Doris Dehling. The family later moved to Wisconsin and she graduated in 1954 from Montello High School as valedictorian and class president. In 1958, she earned her bachelor’s degree in music education from Wisconsin State College-Stevens Point.
After college, she taught music for three years in the Wautoma School District. It was during that period that she met her future husband, Ramon Hansen, publisher of the local newspaper, the Waushara Argus.
In 1961, Ramon Hansen brought Donna on to serve as office manager of the newspaper. Though he sold the paper three years later, they remained in contact and were married March 13, 1965, in Bloomfield, Neb.
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Donna and Ramon Hansen went on to own several newspapers together, including The Neodesha (Kan.) Sun, The Prairie Drummer in Colby, Kan., The Interstate News in Siloam Springs, Ark., and the Carthage (N.Y.) Republican Tribune. Donna Hansen wrote a weekly column for their newspapers and continued as a guest columnist for the Republican Tribune after retiring in 2006.
Donna and Ramon were married 56 years and had two sons, Christopher and Eric, five grandchildren and one great-granddaughter.
A memorial service for Hansen was held Sunday, Sept. 13, at the Cedar Lake Village Worship Center in Olathe, Kan.
