Roger Leyrer Hansen

Roger Leyrer Hansen, age 91, of Carroll passed away on Friday, February 1, 2019 at St. Anthony Regional Hospital in Carroll.

Funeral services will be held at 11 AM on Saturday, Feb. 9, 2019 at First United Methodist Church in Carroll with Rev. Terry Plocher officiating.  Organist for the service will be Ellen Severin, trumpeter will be Jim Woodland, and vocalists will be Jim Vanderheiden, Skip Raridon, and Doug Sweeney.  Casket bearers will be Joe Weinman, Ron Short, Scott Weinman, Sam Weinman, Joshua Griffith, Michael Kleene and Aaron Vecchio.  Interment with military honors will be in the Carroll City Cemetery.

Visitation will be held at the Dahn and Woodhouse Funeral Home in Carroll from 5-7 PM on Friday evening where there will be a Masonic Memorial Service held at 7:00 P.M.  Funeral arrangements are under the direction of the Dahn and Woodhouse Funeral Home in Carroll and online condolences may be left for the family at www.dahnandwoodhouse.com

The family suggest memorials be made to:

First United Methodist Church
1621 N Main St.
Carroll, IA 51401
or
Simpson College
(Designate to music college)
Indianola, IA

Roger was born Dec. 11, 1927 in York, NE to Cora Leyrer Hansen and Jesse Sweetser Hansen.  The family moved to Carson, IA when Roger was a year old and Roger attended school there until moving to Oakland, IA where he graduated from Oakland High School in 1945.  He attended Simpson College in Indianola where he was a member of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity and met the love of his life Natalie Skogsbergh.  He graduated in 1950 and began his teaching career in Harlan, IA until he was drafted into the army during the Korean War.  Roger and Natalie were married on Feb. 9, 1952 in St. Paul’s Chapel at the United Methodist Church in Cedar Rapids.  The couple lived in Indianapolis, IN for nine months until Roger was deployed to Germany with the U.S. Army.  In Nov. 1952 Roger was reassigned to Special Services in Stuttgart, Germany where he became the head choral director for the All Army Soldier Shows.  He worked the show “Xanadu” and toured with it to Army and Air Force bases in Europe.  In Jan of 1954 he began work on his master’s degree at the University of Colorado, Boulder.  In the fall of 1955 he started teaching music in Carroll, IA which continued until his retirement in 1988.  He did additional graduate work at Drake University and Arizona State University.  He was the originator of the “Carroll High Swing Show-Tiger Tales” which first started in 1970.  He served as president of the Iowa High School Music Association and the State Unified Activities Association.  He was a state music contest judge and auditor for All-State Chorus for 30 years.  He was twice nominated for Iowa Teacher of the Year.  He was active in the Methodist Church in Carroll, where he directed the junior choir for 18 years.  For 25 years he directed the Carroll Elks Men’s Chorus and sang in the Flexibles Quartet.  During summer months he worked as an area supervisor for Pioneer Seeds/Garst and Thomas Co in Coon Rapids.  Roger was a member of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Music fraternity, Pi Kappa Delta Education Honorary, Scottish Rite Masons, a Shriner, and past Master of the Masonic Lodge.  The Hansen family enjoyed traveling around the U.S. while their daughters were growing up.  Roger and Natalie enjoyed trips to Europe in the 1980’s.  They wintered in Arizona for 28 years where Roger directed the Citrus Gardens “Goldenaires” Chorus.  Roger collected beer steins from Germany.  He enjoyed golf and photography.

Roger is survived by two daughters:  Karen Weinman (Joe) of Indianola and Lynette Short (Ron) of Omaha; six grandchildren: Scott Weinman (Monica) of Indianola, Sarah Griffith (Josh) of Gilbert, AZ, Katy Short of Omaha, Stacia Kleene (Michael) of Indianola, Ally Vecchio (Aaron) of Omaha and Sam Weinman of West Des Moines; eleven greatgrandchildren: Mayli, Nora, Callen, Alice, Cora, Kepler, Bergen, Natalie, Greysen, Karigan and Aiden; his brother-in-law and sister-in-law John Paul and Nancy Skogsbergh of Cedar Rapids; two nieces and one nephew.

Roger was preceded in death by his wife Natalie Hansen; his parents Jesse and Cora Hansen; and his brother and sister-in-law Keith and Joyce Hansen.