Gerda Hansen, who raised a family and lived most of her 79 years on Vashon, died September 7 at the Weatherly Inn in

Tacoma from Alzheimer’s disease.

The daughter of German parents, Gerda was born February 27, 1934, in Carlsbad, Czechoslovakia. She was trained as a draftsman and developed a life-long appreciation of well-machined goods and tools. She met Art Hansen, then a graduate art student from Vashon, in Nuremberg, Germany.

They married in 1956,. The couple lived in Germany, Minneapolis and Hawaii before settling permanently in the Lisabeula area of Vashon in 1961. Together they built a rustic house, a large garden and an enclosed pasture. They grew much of their own food and heated their home with wood cut from their land.

An industrious, hard-working and self-reliant woman, Gerda preserved and canned fruits and vegetables, designed, sewed and knit clothes for the family, and taught other women how to bake bread from scratch. Her best friends were often immigrants like she. She was pleased to pass on old country recipes and find new uses for discarded clothes and furniture from Granny’s Attic. She was especially devoted to her husband and her two sons, Knut and Ben.

Gerda is survived by her husband Art, of Vashon; her brother, Rainer Anton, of Kassel, Germany; her sons, Knut (Ruri), of Seattle, and Ben (Christine), of Brooklyn, NY, and five grandchildren. At her request, there will be no memorial service. The family suggests remembrances be made in her name to Granny’s Attic.

Paid Obituary.