Sarah Hanna

Sarah Hanna passed away peacefully April 17, 2026, surrounded by love and gratitude for her long life.  

A feisty Swedish girl, Sarah was born in Minneapolis on Jan. 16, 1935, to Ture Nordstrom and Alice Turnquist.  She was the youngest of four, with two older brothers and a lovely, sweet sister she adored.  Growing up in a hardworking Swedish family, devout in faith, Sarah was well behaved with perfect grades that won her a red bicycle from her proud dad.  She skated after school in winter and on occasion when her mischievous sparkle got hold of her, she threw caution aside for an adventure worth the trouble she’d face reckoning her daring. Her Valentine excursion was her grandkids’ favorite Grandma Sarah story.  

Sarah was a nursing student at the University of Minnesota when serving tea at a campus reception, she caught the eye of a handsome grad student with a warm broad smile.  His name was Mel Hanna and he was bewitched!  Who could resist his cheerfully awkward charm?  He captured her heart and they married the following summer in 1956. They welcomed their first son Gregory in December 1957, before their respective graduations.

Sarah soon learned Mel was ever up for a new quest, often involving transfer or travel.   So, when it came time to head to Pasadena and Cal Tech for his post-doc, he introduced his bride and baby boy to tent camping. Like nomads they left Minnesota and headed west to California, the land of sunshine where they welcomed their second son Steven in 1960.  

From post-doc years in Pasadena, Mel and Sarah moved their young family to Boulder, home of the University of Colorado.  A third son John came as Mel launched his career in academia and Sarah settled in as a traditional wife and mother.   Sarah managed her mid-century tri-level to perfection, raised her boys through early childhood, sang in the church choir and performed in the chorus of Madam Butterfly in a University of Colorado theater production.  Life was good as Sarah attended to the blessed ordinary routines of a healthy family.  

In time they bought a larger house at the foot of Boulder’s Flatirons.  They planted victory gardens in summer, and harvested apples in fall.  They opened their hearts and home to young adults, fledglings in faith hungry for learning and TLC.  There was always room at the Hanna table for dinner and lively conversation. 

In this golden time of ministry partnering with Mel, Sarah found her calling as a wise woman and mentor.  She cultivated and nurtured her charges to prepare them for their future.   

If Sarah was your mentor, you found her caring a unique blend of curiosity, observation and insight.  She wasn’t much for small talk; her questions went straight to the point.  She listened and observed, her interpretations swift, accurate and clean.  Your best hour with Sarah was at five o’clock working in the kitchen.   You’d perch on stool by the window or rinse soil from fresh-picked garden treasures.  Engaged and focused she listened as you talked, her voice low and soft in response.  Her hands never stopped working.  She darned socks well past their natural lifetime.

 Sarah believed in you, in your growth and discovery.  She gave you refuge and challenge and guidance, modeled mindfulness and minimalism (ahead of her time) and simple tasks of self-care.  Ever ready was her quick, dry sense of humor that gave you laughter and perspective.  

In mid-life, their boys grown, Mel took early retirement from the university. He and Sarah packed up their worldly goods for storage, rented their house and signed on as missionaries with Youth With a Mission (YWAM).  Although home base was Kona, Hawaii, they traveled the world Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, especially Switzerland.  They found themselves perpetually on the move still ministering to fledglings in faith searching for wisdom and TLC.  Sarah’s mentoring was in high demand.  

At last, after years of living abroad, teaching, counseling and building into the lives of people across continents, Mel and Sarah pulled up stakes in Kona and moved back to their family in Colorado. At a slower pace they continued traveling for ministry until Sarah retired her airplane pillow and opted to stay home.  Mel carried on.  

Although she no longer traversed the globe, Sarah never stopped mentoring.  Through long handwritten letters she invested in dear fledglings entrusted to her care.  In return she received a constant stream of notes, cards, letters, photos and postcards from around the world; greetings, ponderings and expressions of gratitude and love.  Even as her eyesight failed with advancing glaucoma and her handwriting ceased, Mel transcribed her letters to print.  

Sarah lost her life partner of sixty-six years when Mel died at the age of 90 in 2022. 

In her final years Sarah’s sight and hearing were limited, her mind dimmed and her thoughts became unclear.  It was time for caregivers to be the refuge Sarah as mentor had been to so many.  Their devotion to hold and guide her with her sons Greg and Steve beside her, the feisty Swedish girl defied her body’s constraints. She sparkled in the light of their tenderness and high regard.  They celebrated Sarah, laughed with her and found peace in her wisdom and love.    

There is no fanfare in mentoring, no prizes or pay. The mentor’s work is sacred, a midwifery of the soul.   Sarah nourished faith that brought forth new life and blessed her fledglings as they took flight, carrying her influence into the future.  

Survivors:  sons Greg (Tami), Steve; grandchildren Michael (Kristin) Jonathan (Chelsey), Emily Lang (Justin), Matt, Alex, Claire, Taya Yeager (Jesse) and Jori; great-grandchildren Milo, Oliver, Remy, Eleanor, Ian and Joshua Hanna; sister Ethel Shiell, sister-in-law Becky Nordstrom; eleven nieces and nephews and their kids and grandkids too.   She is preceded in death by husband Melvin W. Hanna, son John Hanna, parents Ture Nordstrom, Alice Turnquist Nordstrom; brothers Truitt and Clyde Nordstrom. 

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