Carl Hansen

Citrus loses former school board member

At Marine Science Center with Mr. Hansen and former school board member, Pat Deutschman.

Over this past holiday season, Citrus County lost another one of its special individuals when it lost former Citrus County School Board member Carl Hansen. Mr. Hansen served on the Citrus County School Board from 1996-2000 and was Chairman from 1997-98. While Mr. Hansen’s professional life extends far beyond his time on the Citrus County School Board, for me he will always be best known as the Honorable Carl Hansen, Citrus County School Board member.

Mr. Hansen and I both attended Crystal River United Methodist Church and I was familiar with his personal and professional accomplishments.  I sought him out prior to my being elected to the school board to learn about how to best serve our students and community. During one of our meetings, he walked me step-by-step through the responsibilities, challenges, rewards, and even his own expectations of being a school board member. I remember drinking in all that he shared and realizing that whatever I thought I knew, I had much still to learn. I recall him asking me a lot of questions about why I was running for office and about what I hoped to accomplish.  Mr. Hansen ended our meeting by asking, “Who do I write your campaign contribution check out to?”  I was taken aback because while I knew donations were part of the process, I had not expected that my very first campaign donation would be from Carl Hansen.  That and his donations of his time, wisdom, and experience are a special connection I will always have with him.

Many months later when I was honored to be elected as a school board member, Mr. Hansen and I met again. This time he began the meeting by saying he had some gifts for me. Mr. Hansen began to place on the table several special neckties and lapel pins he had worn as a school board member. If you knew Mr. Hansen, you won’t be surprised to learn that he had a special story to go along with each one of those gifts. One of the pins he gave me simply states “CHILDREN FIRST”. He took special care to remind me how vital it was as a school board member that each and every decision I made should always put children first. That pin has been on my school board lanyard since the day I was elected. I wear that lanyard into every classroom I visit; doing so makes me feel like Mr. Hansen is with me. I regularly wear Mr. Hansen’s neckties in honor of him at school board meetings and wore one of his ties the day of his memorial service.

While others will do a far better job sharing about Mr. Hansen’s amazing life and accomplishments,  I wanted to take a few minutes to share my personal connection with Mr. Hansen as a school board member and to let you know the love he had for the children of Citrus County Schools. That love may be best evidenced in three of his children who serve as teachers and leaders in our school system: Earnie Olsen, coordinator of the Marine Science Center; Debra Dumas, district teacher; and Donna Olsen, music teacher at Homosassa Elementary.

Thank you, Mr. Hansen, for being a friend of the Citrus County School District, a guide to me, and a warrior for public education.

To learn more about Mr. Carl Hansen visit https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/chronicleonline/obituary.aspx?n=carl-thomas-hansen&pid=194879197

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