Remembering my father-in-law, the late Rev. Dr. Oscar C. Hanson

       I knew of him long before I met him. Inga, my uncle Henry's wife, was a distant relative and was very proud of that fact. Oscar was hugely popular among Lutheran's in the mid-west. When, at my brother's wedding, I introduced my girlfriend, Joanne, to Ole, a patriarch of the church in Sinai, as Oskar's daughter, Ole almost had a stroke. He was a gifted speaker and preacher with significant leadership abilities. In the fifties he was head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church's youth department. From there he became president of Lutheran Bible Institute. Later he was a traveling evangelist for the Lutheran Church. While in that position he, with his family, founded the American Lutheran Church , Oslo, Norway...So why blog about him now?

       During our Thanksgiving dinner yesterday it was revealed that my intraocular had been reading one of his several books, Live To Win. Inscribed in the book was  a thank your to my parents for hosting him in their home in 1963. The question was, what was he like?  Part of the answer was about his refusal to allow any conversation in his presence, where a person who wasn't present, to be spoken of negatively. He was famous for his "thank yous." After speaking at a church he'd send 'thank yous' to the pastor, organist, choir director, custodian, women in the kitchen and more. Affirmation was his style, which Joanne learned consequently her children nick-named her "affirmo mom,"

     Oscar was kind, compassionate and unfailingly positive. Unfortunately Parkinson's shortened both his ministry and life. May God bless the memory of Rev. Dr. Oscar C. Hanson, who I am proud to call my father-in-law. 

Takk for alt,

Al