A Celebration of Orville's life will be held in the fall at Trinity Lutheran Church, Owatonna. Service dates and times will be announced one week prior to the service. Michaelson Funeral Home is handling arrangements. Orville Erland Hanson, 94, of Owatonna, Minnesota died Tuesday, July 18, 2017 at MorningStar Assisted Living in Littleton, Colorado. He was born on Feburary 11, 1923, the son of Esther and Henry (Hokanson) Hanson of rural Moorhead, MN. At the age of 5, he and his family moved into Moorhead where he attended the Moorhead Public Schools graduating in 1941. He attended North Dakota State for almost 2 years before being called to active duty during World War II. He completed basic training at Fort Belvoir as a combat engineer. He was transferred to the Army specialized training program at the City College of New York. He was later transferred to the Army Air Corp stationed at Truax Field, Madison, WI. He completed the radio course and remained as an instructor for almost 2 years. He was next transferred to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson to join a B-29 bomb group for over-seas deployment. By that time he had too many points so he remained in the state to await his discharge. Later he received a direct commission and served in the Reserve until completing 20 years at which time he retired as a major. Upon his discharge from active duty, he completed his BS degree from NDSU in 1948 and his Masters in mathematics and secondary education from Greeley, CO. His first math teaching position was in Rushford, MN and then Owatonna serving as department chair for a number of years. After 13 years in Owatonna he left teaching to join Webster Division of McGraw Hill Book Company as a math editor. After 5 years, he moved back to Owatonna until his retirement in 1985. For a few years he gave keynote addresses and conducted elementary math workshops throughout the United States for Science Research Associates an educational publishing company in Chicago. After retiring from teaching he volunteered at various places including Wee-Pals, Senior Place, Trinity Lutheran Church, United Way, Salvation Army, Meals on Wheels, Owatonna Hospital Auxiliary (2000 plus hours), and Blood Mobile. Orville and Jean were the original residents of Gateway Apartments in Owatonna from 2004 to 2016. Jean passed away in February of 2015 and in February of 2017, Orville moved to Littleton, Colorado to be closer to family. He is survived by his son, Brian Hanson, daughter-in-law, Lynette Hanson, and grandson, Derek Hanson all of Littleton, CO. He was preceded in death by his parents, sister Amy, and wife, Jean (Prentice) Hanson.