Eric Hansen

Eric Hansen of Juneau died in a vehicle accident near Terrace, BC Canada on November 27, 2018.
Eric was born May 24, 1943, to Henry & Doris Hansen (Landon). His father preceded him in death and his mother is 98 and living in Oak Harbor, WA. Eric is survived by wife Jeanne, daughter Heidi Hansen (John) of Anchorage and sisters Linda Atwood of Las Cruces, NM and Karen Timm (Dan) of North Platte. NE.
Eric was in the Juneau-Douglas High class of 1961, graduated from the University of Montana and served as an army first lieutenant in Vietnam. Eric’s passions in life were his wife Jeanne and daughter Heidi, his many friends, live aboard boats and fishing, piloting private planes and in later years worldwide travel with Jeanne which fulfilled his “bucket list.” He retired from employment with the State of Alaska in 1994, worked in the private health care industry for 8 years, and then was an environmental inspector on oil and gas pipelines for another 10 years.
Six years ago Eric was diagnosed with multiple myeloma that the VA believed was triggered by agent orange in Vietnam.
After the myeloma diagnosis, Eric began a different journey in life. Besides working the “bucket list,” he was a dedicated advocate who believed patients needed to learn as much as possible about their disease to get their best outcomes. He joined the Myeloma Crowd, wrote articles, hosted videos on Patient Power and attended international conferences on the disease. The Myeloma Crowd helps sponsor research and provides support and information about this ever- challenging disease. After stem cell transplants and chemotherapy, the doctors recently gave him a very optimistic life prognosis.
Eric would have encouraged people to remember him by donations to: Myeloma Crowd P.O. Box 1286 Draper, UT 84020. But all who knew Eric will remember him with a smile. He was a kind, understanding, and gentle soul.
Friends and family will have an informal get together next summer in Juneau to honor and remember an outstanding man.