Ivan Hansen

Ivan Y. Hansen, 63, of Tottenville, a former communications technician, died of cancer Saturday at the Casa de la Luz Hospice in Tucson, Ariz.

Born in Brooklyn, he attended Fort Hamilton High School. He then went on to attend College of Staten Island for two years and began working as a communications technician for AT&T. He moved to Tottenville in 1975 and retired from AT&T in 2012 after 42 years.

In his youth, Mr. Hansen, spent nine months living in Norway with his grandmother. He retained a strong connection to his Scandinavian heritage and kept in touch regularly with cousins living in Norway. He also spoke fluent Norwegian and, along with his wife, was a member of the Sons of Norway Nansen Lodge in Travis. He attended the annual Syttende Mai parade in Brooklyn, celebrating Norway's independence from Sweden. He traveled with his wife to Norway in the winter of 1975 and summer of 2010.

Mr. Hansen was fond of prospecting and was a member of the Gold Prospectors Association of America and the Garden State Gold Prospectors Club. He went prospecting in Wickenburg, Ariz., and in New Jersey, and kept a vast collection of other minerals as well. He was also a member of the Richmond Boro Gun Club in Charleston.

He enjoyed spending time with family, especially his nieces and nephews. He celebrated holidays and held barbecues with relatives. He also loved stream and trap fishing and would take his two sons to the Raritan River and Greenwood Lake in New Jersey, where he spent many summers as a child and maintained friends.

He is survived by his wife of 42 years, Grace; two sons, Mark and David, and a brother, Jan.

The funeral service will be Friday at 10 a.m. in the Bedell-Pizzo Funeral Home, Tottenville. Burial will follow in Ocean View Cemetery, Oakwood.

Services: Bedell-Pizzo Funeral Home Friday, August 2,2013 10:00AM

Visitation: Bedell-Pizzo Funeral Home Thursday, August 1,2013 2-4 & 7-9PM

Cemetery: Ocean View Cemetery

Location: Bedell-Pizzo Funeral Home

Church: Bedell-Pizzo Funeral Home