Murray Allan Hanson was born on October 12, 1958 at Neudorf, SK, the fourth of six children born to Neil and Jean Hanson. At the age of 4 ½ , Murray was badly burnt. Against the odds, he survived and thrived. The Hanson family moved to Watrous in 1967.
As a youngster he played hockey and enjoyed swimming and water sports, and pretty much anything else that the other kids were playing. He was the local marble champion!
In 1979, Murray married Jackie Fenton. They moved a couple of times with his work then settled in Watrous when he started working for Cameco in Key Lake. Here they raised their two sons, Joey and Curtis, and their daughter, Shawna.
After their divorce, Murray moved to Saskatoon where he and Delvena Doucette eventually bought a house. Their work schedules had them both on the road a lot. Del worked at Naicam for a while until getting a position in the Melfort area where they bought a house and were presently residing.
Through all that, the cabin at Marean Lake was the hub of Murray’s life. It was the base camp for lots of the hunting and fishing that he did. This is where he loved to have company and entertain guests.
He enjoyed poking and teasing until he got a response. He was great with kids, and they all loved him back. He was especially fond of his grandchildren and loved them deeply.
Last year he realized a dream by going to Africa for a hunting safari. He was accompanied by his brother Chris, sister-in-law Kathy, and niece Sarah. He was able to get some trophies for his bragging wall.
Earlier this year, Murray was able to go scuba diving off the coast of Cozumel in Mexico—another of his dreams achieved! (Those of you who’ve been to the cabin since then have probably had the pleasure of watching the video.)
At Key Lake, Murray, along with Rick Hopper, initiated a program to salvage used metals to sell to help raise money for Kinsmen Telemiracle. In one of the years, they raised $16,000. It was a cause he was proud to be a part of.
Murray Hanson died suddenly on September 3, 2015 as he was heading out to go hunting (his favourite thing to do) from his cabin at Marean Lake (his favourite place to be).
He is survived by his spouse Delvena Doucette; his children Joey (Adrienne), Curtis (Trisha), Shawna (Shane); grandchildren Abilene, Josey, and Jentry; stepchildren Alex (Mark), Scott; step-grandchildren Jessica, Liam, and Cameron; parents Neil and Jean; sisters Jody and Shelley (Glenn Walden); and brothers Harold, Doug (Gloria), and Chris (Kathy).
He will be greatly missed by his family and everyone who knew him.