Joseph L. Hanson (84) of Valentine passed away April 22, 2023 at Cherry County Hospital. Joe was born December 25 ^th , 1938 to Clarence and Leona (Koenig) Hanson in Lynch, Nebraska. In the late 40's, the family moved to Valentine. Joe graduated from Valentine high school in 1957. Upon graduation, Joe married E. (Mae) Keller in 1959. Joe entered the U.S. Navy and both him and Mae traveled to California where he was stationed. Joe served with high school classmate Neil Stoecker and many others that would remain lifelong friends. After four years, Joe and Mae returned to Valentine where they made their home and raised their four sons. Joe worked a variety of jobs initially, serving as a ranch hand, working on golf courses, and managing the vets club until he started his permanent career with UPS. Joe drove for UPS for over 30 years. Through this time he met many of the area ranchers and knew all of the short-cuts across trail roads in Cherry County. You might catch a glimpse of the brown truck cruising across a sandhill enroute to ensure an on-time delivery. The kids and grandkids would wait patiently on Christmas for the last package to be delivered so the family could enjoy their Christmas tradition of Chili and Oyster stew and opening gifts.

Joe was a handyman and could get most any type of engine to run or he could build many "machines" from scratch. Many locals would call on Joe to fix their (---) and in a short time he would have it running. With the family, he enjoyed camping, hunting, fishing, boating, playing cards, traveling to an area casino, and traveling with the camper to summer vacations at area lakes. Most that interacted with Joe know that he loved to tell stories and jokes.

Joe was preceded in death by his wife Mae and his parents. He is survived by his four sons, Tony (Emma) of Valentine, Tim (Sally) of Valentine, Troy (Amy) of Blair, NE, and Ted (Brandon) of Casper, WY. He has 8 grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren. Also surviving are brother Jim (Estella) of Gillette, WY and sister Carol of Lincoln, NE.

Funeral service for Joe Hanson was held Friday April 28, 2023 at St. Nicholas Catholic Church. Fr. K. Abraham officiated at 10:00 service with burial following at Mount Hope Cemetery. Memorials maybe made to the Valentine VFW or the the Valentine Senior Center.

Brother-Jim of Gillette, WY