Norman A. Carlson
Norman A. Carlson died August 9, 2020, at Mayo Hospital in Phoenix after a very brief illness.
He was born August 10, 1933, in Sioux City, Iowa, to Albert Noah Carlson and Esther Hollander Carlson. He graduated from Central High School in 1951 and attended Gustavus Adolphus College in Saint Peter, Minn. He received a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology. While at Gustavus, he met and married Patricia H. Musser of Fairmont, Minn.
Norm received his Masters Degree in Criminology from Iowa State University and began working in the State of Iowa’s corrections department. From there, he was encouraged to join the Federal Bureau of Prisons and Pat and he moved to Leavenworth, Kan., and then onto Ashland, Ky., before being transferred to the main office in Washington, D.C., to work on then Attorney General Robert Kennedy’s new halfway house program. During those years, he and Pat expanded their family with the births of daughter Cindy and son Gary. Quickly advancing, he became the Executive Assistant to the Director in 1964. When the Director announced his retirement in 1970, Norm was chosen by then Attorney General John Mitchell to be his replacement. At 36 years of age, he became only the fourth Director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Upon retirement from the Bureau, Norm joined the faculty of the University of Minnesota’s Department of Sociology and served as an adjunct professor until 1998. He has served as a Director of the Wackenhut Corrections Corporation and its successor, the GEO Group from 1994 until 2016. He remained a Director Emeritus until his death.
After his wife Pat’s death in 1994, Norm was reintroduced to a high school friend Phyllis Ideker Rohan and remarried in 1997. They built a home in PebbleCreek in 1998 and enjoyed many activities there and traveled extensively around the world. Norm had recently moved to Robson Reserve to enjoy the services and activities there.
Norm was preceded in death by his devoted wife of 34 years Patricia Carlson; his sister Lavonne Easley; and his second wife Phyllis Rohan.
Always a devoted family-man, Norm leaves behind a very proud family including: daughter Cindy Gustafson and her husband Wally Auerbach, grandson Erik Gustafson and his wife Melissa; son Gary and wife Martha Austin Carlson, grandsons Mitch and his wife Janie, and Tucker Carlson; and his stepchildren Diana Toon, and Ron and Brigid Anderson.
A memorial service will be held virtually on Saturday, September 26. If you would like to be sent an email invitation to the memorial service, please email [email protected]. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Linnaeus Arboretum at Gustavus Adolphus College, where two trees grow in honor of Norm and his first wife Pat at gustavus.edu/give/Linnaeus%20Arboretum.
Cards may be sent to his children: Gary Carlson and Cindy Gustafson – 4018 Quentin Ave. South, St. Louis Park, MN 55416.
William J. Blasko
William J. Blasko, age 81, of Goodyear, Ariz., passed away on July 14, 2020, in Goodyear, Ariz. He was born on November 29, 1938, to Emery Blasko and Mary Anna Mudri in Cleveland, Ohio.
William served in the United States Army from 1956 to 1959 as a Tank Gunner in Germany, with the rank of E-4. He was also a member of the Raceway Elks #2852 in Avondale, Ariz., and the American Legion post #61, also located in Avondale.
William is survived by his wife, Jean Blasko; his daughters, Sarah Blasko and Denise Schooley (Teague Schooley); his sisters, Catherine Farrell (Ohio) and Veronica Blasko (Ohio); and his five grandchildren, Wyatt Beard, Kobie Schooley, Karlie Schooley, Kenzie Schooley, and Makinzee Schooley. He is preceded in death by his son, Billy Blasko; his sister, Mary Anne Blasko; and his brothers, Edward Blasko and Larry Blasko.
Funeral services took place on August 15, 2020, at Christ’s Church of the Valley Verrado, 20575 W Indian School Rd, Buckeye, AZ.
The family has asked that if anyone would like to make a donation, they do so at www.gofundme.com/f/in-loving-memory-of-william-blasko.
Condolences for the family can be left at www.thompsonfuneralchapel.com/obituary/william-blasko.
Marjorie Nell Hansen
Marjorie Nell Hansen departed this world on June 20, 2020, at her home in Litchfield Park, Ariz. She also previously resided in Pebble Creek in Goodyear, Ariz., and in Kenmore, Wash., at Inglewood Country Club. She was born May 11, 1938, in Nevada, Mo., to Carmi R. (Jack) and Mary A. (Miller) Neas. She married Charles F. Hansen on August 17, 1961, on Mercer Island, Wash. He was the love of her life for nearly 58 years and survives. She is also survived by her son, Martin Hansen, daughter Paige Donnelly, step-daughter Debbie Radcliff, brother Harold Neas, grandchildren Gabrielle Hansen and Thomas Hansen, Carley Astigarraga and Tyler Radcliff, great grandchild Garrett Astigarraga, and her aunt Ruth Weltmer. She is preceded in death by her brother Robert Neas, her mother Mary Neas, and her father Jack Neas.
Marjorie received her B.A. in Education from Southwest Missouri State University, and took several years of continuing education credits at the University of Washington. She was a teacher at Tyee Middle, Interlake and Sammamish High schools in Bellevue for 40 years, where she taught over 5,000 students shorthand, keyboarding, computer, and business skills. In her spare time, she enjoyed attending Mariner’s games, especially spring training in Peoria, Ariz., as a season ticket-holder with prime seats behind home plate. She was also a staunch Seahawk fan. One of her proudest personal achievements was winning runner-up in the Ms. Springfield, Missouri, pageant prior to starting college.
She and her husband Charlie threw epic parties at their home for all types of celebrations, from the Super Bowl, to teacher retirements, to costume parties. She learned a love of cooking from her mother, who was a school cook, and she enjoyed family vacations to tropical locales with favorite trips to Barbados and the last all-family Caribbean cruise in 2017. She was a voracious reader and especially enjoyed spending time shooting the breeze with friends and cheering on her children in their various sports and activities.
A caregiver and entertainer at heart, Marge (or Marji) as many would call her, obtained various nicknames over the years from ‘Nurse Marge’ to ‘Nutty Nell’. She was the person you wanted to care for you when you were sick, and make you laugh when you were down. She had a wicked, crazy sense of humor, and always enjoyed brightening someone’s day with a thoughtful card or note, small gift, or a simple invitation to spend time talking together.
Marjorie was a beautiful, caring human being inside and out with a heart of gold, farmer’s work ethic, sharp-as-a-tack teacher’s brain and wit, and an unbreakable fighting spirit, having survived cancer not once, but twice. She will be missed by many and forever in our hearts.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the American Cancer Society.
Private inurnment will take place at Sunset Hills Memorial Park in Bellevue, Wash.
Tom Janssen
Thomas R. Janssen, born July 17, 1927, passed into Eternal Peace on July 16, 2020, the day before his 93rd birthday. He is survived by his beloved wife and best friend, Margaret (Peg). Further survived by children Thomas (Tara), Phoenix, Ariz.; Mark (Leila), Moreno Valley, Calif.; David (Anne), Wauwatosa, Wis.; and Linda (Jim) Fischer, Hubertus, Wis. He leaves behind eight grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; sisters, Jean Chier, Berlin, Wis.; Mary Lynne (Mike) Le Roy, Sheboygan, Wis.; nieces, nephew, godchildren, and Peg’s siblings, all who loved him very much.
Tom, a high school teacher and football coach, became the District Athletic director for Wauwatosa School District and continued in that position until his retirement from education in 1979. When Peg retired, they built a home in PebbleCreek and moved here in January of 2001. Tom joined the Sandbagger golf group, and the friendships he made continued until his passing. He played poker, traveled with Peg, often on cruises, and enjoyed many summers revisiting his hometown, Green Bay, Wis.
He loved his wife, his family and the many friends that he and Peg made in their travels, including those from around the country and Australia. Tom was a proud Green Bay Packers “owner” and was an avid fan of the Wisconsin Badgers. He was a kind, fair, and wise gentleman. He will be missed.
Tom’s funeral Mass was celebrated at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in Avondale, and he was interred at Allouez Cemetery in Green Bay. If desired, contributions in Tom’s name may be made to St. Vincent de Paul Society at St. Thomas Aquinas, or to Wauwatosa School District, where a scholarship in Tom’s name had already been established.