Roger Dean Hansen, 90

Roger Dean Hansen

October 7, 1931 – June 17, 2022

Roger Dean Hansen, 90, passed away on June 17, 2022 at Schneidmiller Hospice House in Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho. Roger was born October 7, 1931 to William and Elizabeth (Vehrs) Hansen in Aspinwall, Iowa. He was the middle child of eleven.

At age two the family moved to Manilla, Iowa where Roger attended school graduating from Manilla High School in 1949.

In January 1951 Roger enlisted in the Marines. He spent over a year in Korea. His tour of duty also included Japan and the Philippines, with a year aboard the U.S.S. General Anderson. Back in the states, he served as a military prison guard at Camp Elliott in San Diego. He was discharged in January 1954, with the rank of Sergeant and received the Navy Occupation Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, and the Good Conduct Medal.

After the Marines, Roger worked for the Milwaukee Railroad on a bridge crew repairing bridges across the Midwest for over a year. In 1955, he enrolled at Iowa State Teacher’s College attending classes during the day and working nights at the Iowa State Mental Hospital. While attending college he met and married his first wife, Delores Luxford. Their first child, Kurt David, was born in October 1957. Roger graduated from college in August 1959 and started his teaching career at Newell, Iowa teaching science and P.E. and coaching football and basketball.

In the early 1960s they moved to West Branch, Iowa where Roger taught junior high science, P.E. and coached football, track, golf, and junior high girls’ basketball. The couple’s second child, Dirk William, was born in West Branch in April 1963.

In 1966, he led the football team to the school’s first state championship. Roger’s football coaching style of strong leadership, discipline and toughness earned him lifetime respect from many of his players. Many of the West Branch players have stayed in contact over the years with some traveling to Idaho to see “coach,” share memories and talk football. The West Branch Bears 2022 team will be wearing the initials RH on their helmets this season to honor his memory.

Later at West Branch he taught the Core program for students that did not want to be in school. Roger had an affinity for these kids. He taught them life skills, helped them finish their education and find success later in life.

He left West Branch in the early 1970’s and moved to Winchester, Virginia. While he was there he ran a restaurant and made some unique lifetime friends.

In 1977 the superintendent of the Coeur d’Alene School District, whom Roger had worked with in the Core program asked him to come to Idaho to start a program to keep kids from dropping out of the Coeur d’Alene schools. Roger and his son Dirk moved to Coeur d’Alene in 1977. Roger earned his M.Ed. in Educational Administrative from the University of Idaho during this time, graduating in 1982. Project CDA (Creating Dropout Alternatives) opened in 1979. The program was one of the first alternative schools in the state and was very successful at getting students back into school and helping them become graduates. As principal of Project CDA, Roger found his true calling in teaching. He was a strict, no-nonsense leader with unconventional methods, three strikes you’re out attendance policy, and a genuine love for these students. The attributes Roger brought to the program saved many who would not have succeeded in a traditional system. The school served as a model for many other alternative programs in the state and won many state and national awards.

In 1994, Roger was named an American Hero in Education by Reader’s Digest Magazine. An article about him and the school appeared in the August 1995 issue of the magazine. He was humble about this, and every award, giving credit not to himself but to having an outstanding staff. Many students still stay in contact and talk about the love they have for the school, for Roger and the staff, and how the school gave them the chance they needed to succeed.

Roger married Jean Ohl Wilson in 1994, and settled on ten acres outside of Coeur d’Alene. He retired from the school district in 1996. They spent 28 years together watching Jean’s daughter Kristi grow up and show horses, hosting family gatherings and hog roasts, and traveling to Seattle to see sons Kurt and Dirk and attend Seahawk games. They enjoyed fishing for bass and taking road trips to Montana to see family and tour the backroads. He especially liked traveling Hwy 200 across Montana.

He enjoyed the beautiful green of the alfalfa he grew, raising steers, changing sprinkler pipes, playing golf, telling stories, listening to music on the deck, and hosting happy hour out by the garage for anyone who wanted to stop in.

He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease shortly after he retired. Being a strong and determined man he fought a valiant fight against its debilitating effects. He maintained an active life for many years after diagnosis retaining independent mobility up until the week of his passing.

His greatest sorrows were the death of his son Kurt and brother Wayne. The greatest loves of his life were his sons, Kurt and Dirk, his wife Jean, stepdaughter Kristi, his brother Wayne, his daughter-in-law Christina, his seven grandchildren, the young men he coached, the students he taught and his friends.

He was a one-of-a-kind unconventional man, a defender and protector of all he loved, and a force in the lives of many young adults. He was well-loved and will be missed by many.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Bill and Elsie Hansen; son Kurt; former wife, Delores; brothers, Glen, Ralph, Larry, Delmar, Wayne, and Marlin; sisters, Lois and Colleen. He is survived by his wife, Jean; son, Dirk (Christina); step-daughter, Kristi (Mitch) Running; grandchildren, Parker, Peyton, Preston, Spencer, and Cooper Hansen; Avery and Piper Running; sister, Madelyn Ortner; and brother, Gary (Cleo) Hansen.

A private funeral service will be held with English Funeral Home in Post Falls in charge of arrangements. A complete obituary is available on their website.

Roger’s final “Gather-up” and celebration of life will be held later on this summer for former students, staff and all others who wish to attend, date and time to be announced.

Donations in his memory can be made to Hospice of North Idaho or Crest Hospice.

Please visit roger's online memorial at www.englishfuneralchapel.com