Leo Robert Hanrahan (1918 - 2010)

Born 22 Dec 1918 in Akron, Summit, Ohio, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Bernice Agnes (Cygnor) Hanrahan — married 21 Jun 1941 in Amsterdam, Montgomery, New York State [uncertain]

Descendants

Died 16 Jun 2010 at age 91 in Berks, Pennsylvania, United States

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Biography

Leo was born Dec 22, 1918 in Akron, Ohio^[1][2].

He was the son of Leo S Hanrahan and Margaret Murray^[3].

He loved the outdoors and he and cousin Bill Hackert were lucky to survive adolescence when they were pulled out of the Mohawk River near Lock 8 by a vigilant boy scout^[4]. He loved fishing with his dad and with a neighbor Eino Sauko and they went up to Lake Champlain and Paradox Lake in the Adirondacks. Leo and Bill were radio amateurs (the true "geeks" of their day) and W2LWQ and mom, W8UGY, courted over the radio waves^[3]. He was not able to pay to go to college and had to occasionally check out the local bars to make sure his father and uncle Will (Quinn) weren't out spending the meagre weekly paycheck.

Leo always took care of his posessions and taught me how to do the plugs and points on the car, change the oil and tires. In fact, that Johnson outboard motor in the 1948 photo above was used until just a couple of years ago at the lake.

Dad was an inspiration to Leanne and me growing up and he enrolled in an electrical engineering program sponsored by General Electric (his employer of 39 years) and Union College in Schenectady, earning his bachelor's degree in EE after about 12 years of night school. Our academic acomplishments seemed minor compared to his.

After retirement mom and dad often traveled up to Willsboro on L Champlain to the family cabin that he helped to build back in 1960. In fact they were nearly killed one day after they drove off the road on Interstate 87 near New Russia. The car ended up on its roof after rolling over a couple times.

Glaucoma eventually took most of his eyesight, and after Bernice died in 1996, he could no longer maintain the Scotia home by himself. He moved in with Leanne and Hal Spatz in PA and continued to enjoy his amateur radio hobby^[3]. He died in Jun of 2010 from lung cancer, (maybe that wood stove and "sweeping" the chimney at the camp was more dangerous than we thought- he hadn't smoked cigarettes for over 50 years) ^[5].

Their ashes were scattered together at Willsboro New York.

Sources

1. ↑ 1920 United States Federal Census https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/61816819:6061
2. ↑ U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947 for Leo Robert Hanrahan https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2238/images/44028_12_00037-00728?treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true&_ga=2.154042171.2056829642.1602016795-131295016.1601344535&_gac=1.174900630.1602042034.EAIaIQobChMI3--VhYqy6AIVgp-zCh08zg40EAAYASAAEgI5kfD_BwE&pId=304300236
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2} https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/sources/L1K7-FQ7
4. ↑ SCHENECTADY-GAZETTE, MONDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 5,-1982 on FultonHistory.com "Schenectady NY Gazette 1932 Grayscale - 6268.pdf"
5. ↑ U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014 on Ancestry.com https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=3693&h=87593683&tid=&pid=&queryId=3dfb294385ca41fb07e7692fab3edff6&usePUB=true&_phsrc=HyR298&_phstart=successSource

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Bob Hanrahan for creating Hanrahan-65 on 14 Dec 13. Click the Changes tab for the details on contributions by Bob and others.