2010.02.15: Obituary for Turkey RPCV Christian M. Hansen Jr.
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2010.02.15: Obituary for Turkey RPCV Christian M. Hansen Jr.
Obituary for Turkey RPCV Christian M. Hansen Jr.
In 1963, he joined the Peace Corps and for two years worked in Ankara, Turkey. He then worked in Aberdeen, S.D. Involved in the civil-rights movement, Dr. Hansen also traveled to marches and other events in the mid-1960s. "He was concerned that blacks were being treated unfairly," said his daughter, Amy. After a civil-rights march in Mississippi, Dr. Hansen met the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the home of a mutual friend in Jackson, Miss. It was one of the highlights of Dr. Hansen's life, his family said. "He was in awe. He didn't even know what to talk about," said his wife, Alex. The two men eventually exchanged stories about their trips and missions.
Obituary for Turkey RPCV Christian M. Hansen Jr.
Christian M. Hansen Jr., 77, pediatrician without borders
By Claudia Vargas
Inquirer Staff Writer
Christian M. Hansen Jr., 77, of New Hope, a pediatrician who spent most of his career traveling to impoverished countries to aid malnourished and sick children, died Feb. 3 of pneumonia resulting from bone-marrow disease at Hunterdon Medical Center in Flemington, N.J.
Educated under the Quaker values of helping society through nonviolent means, Dr. Hansen sought to cure as many children as possible.
He helped shape the Henry J. Austin Health Center in Trenton and was on the Rutgers University Medical School faculty for almost a decade.
Fresh out of his residency program in pediatrics at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia in 1961, Dr. Hansen moved with his family to the White Mountain Apache Reservation in Arizona to work for the U.S. Public Health Service. For about a year, he provided medical care to the Apache children.
From then on, it was one adventure after another for Dr. Hansen and his family.
In 1963, he joined the Peace Corps and for two years worked in Ankara, Turkey. He then worked in Aberdeen, S.D.
Involved in the civil-rights movement, Dr. Hansen also traveled to marches and other events in the mid-1960s.
"He was concerned that blacks were being treated unfairly," said his daughter, Amy.
After a civil-rights march in Mississippi, Dr. Hansen met the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the home of a mutual friend in Jackson, Miss.
It was one of the highlights of Dr. Hansen's life, his family said.
"He was in awe. He didn't even know what to talk about," said his wife, Alex. The two men eventually exchanged stories about their trips and missions.
Dr. Hansen then worked at the Tufts-Delta Health Center in Mound Bayou, Miss., before settling in New Hope in 1969.
In the early 1970s, he was one of the first physicians to work at the Henry J. Austin Health Center, which had been established in 1969 as Trenton's Neighborhood Health Center.
After working there for two years, Dr. Hansen joined the Rutgers Medical School as a professor in the department of community medicine and later in the department of pediatrics, his family said.
While in academia, he traveled to countries including Nigeria, Vietnam, Rwanda, and Haiti to help children.
He slept in tents and ate rice and beans almost every day. "He put up with all kinds of things, but he thrived on doing things like that," his wife said.
In 1981, Dr. Hansen left Rutgers and began working for the New Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services. He examined abused children and treated children in foster care.
"He felt such a great need for the children of New Jersey," his wife said.
After the Gulf War, Dr. Hansen went to help children in Turkey with other doctors from all over the world. This trip was one of the most memorable for him, his wife said.
"He was taking care of children. They were very ill, some suffering from terrible malnutrition, and he sort of brought them back to life," she said.
In 1994, Dr. Hansen received an honorary doctor in sciences degree from Haverford College for his work in the community and around the world, said Violet Brown, senior executive administrator at the college.
After Dr. Hansen retired from DYFS in 2001, he volunteered at the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen, tutoring people for their GED exams.
Dr. Hansen was born in Woodbury. His father, the Rev. Christian M. Hansen, was a prominent Lutheran minister in Camden and then in Trenton for many years.
Dr. Hansen went to Quaker schools, and later told his family that their values had inspired him to do the work he did throughout his life.
He graduated from Moorestown Friends School in 1950, Haverford College in 1954, and the University of Pennsylvania Medical School in 1958, the same year he married Alexandra M. Cole.
Because his work sometimes took a toll on him, Dr. Hansen looked forward to going to Maine for several weeks each summer with his family. These annual retreats, his family said, helped him keep his sense of humor and playful personality.
"He loved windup toys," his wife said, laughing. "We would be out to dinner and he would pull one of these toys out and play with it."
In addition to his wife and daughter, Dr. Hansen is survived by sons Max, Jonathan, and Nathaniel and four grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held in early April.
Memorial donations may be made to Haverford College, 370 Lancaster Ave., Haverford, Pa. 19041.
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Story Source: Philadelphia Inquirer
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