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Hansen, Vesta Carolyn Newlin
Vesta Carolyn Newlin Hansen, 85, of West Branch, passed away Sept. 13, 2011, at her home. Funeral services will be held 10:30 a.m. Friday, Sept. 16, at the Friends Church in West Branch. Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Henderson-Barker Funeral Home, West Branch. Burial will be in the West Branch Cemetery.
The daughter of Jay and Ruth (Owen) Newlin, Vesta was born May 4, 1926, in Indianola, Iowa. She graduated from Westtown School in Westtown, Pa., in 1943 and from William Penn University, Oskaloosa, Iowa, in 1947. In the summer of 1951, Vesta traveled in Europe with the American Friends Service Committee, participating in work camps in Germany and Austria. For several years she was engaged in a variety of secretarial positions: for Pioneer Seeds in Des Moines, Iowa; for the Friends United Meeting offices in Richmond, Ind., for Scattergood Friends School at West Branch; and for the Iowa Hydraulics Laboratory at the University of Iowa. After marrying Walter Hansen on March 24, 1962, in Des Moines, she became a homemaker on their family farm in rural West Branch.
Vesta was an active member of the West Branch Friends Church, where among other things she served in the role of treasurer for 25 years. For many years she was an active member of the Cedar County Farm Bureau Women, and at various times was also a member of the West Branch PTA, Scattergood Friends School Committee and Tipton Branch of the American Association of University Women. She enjoyed collecting stamps and was very interested in family history and finding genealogical connections.
She is survived by her husband; two daughters, Lucy (James Kasper) Hansen of Tipton and Carolyn Hansen (friend Chris Handley) of West Branch; brother, Owen (Doris Jean) Newlin of Des Moines; many nieces and nephews; and a special cousin, Elma (Sunny) Johnson.
She was preceded in death by her parents; sister, Emily Bay; brother-in-law, Stanley Bay; and nieces, Frances Bay and Janet Newlin Oransky.
The family would like to thank all the staff at Iowa City Hospice for their compassionate care.
A memorial fund has been established.
Online condolences may be made to the family at .
Published in The Gazette on Sept. 15, 2011
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