Sheila Anne (Mullins) Hansen

Sheila Anne Hansen (87) passed away peacefully on June 15, 2023, at her home surrounded by her loving husband Art and four loving daughters, Margie, Kim, Sharon, and Christine. She was a native of Bridgeport, CT, and was born on October 12, 1934. Sheila lived with her mother Florence Mullins and her grandmother Charlotte Mullins in Seaside Village.

Sheila attended Sacred Heart grammar school and was a parishioner of Sacred Heart Church. She was a “tomboy” and played stick ball and touch football on the streets in Seaside Village. Father John McGough helped Sheila and her best friend, Shirley Mahoney, receive scholarships to Laurelton Hall, a Catholic girls high school in Milford, CT. Sheila was a good student and excelled in sports including basketball and field hockey. In her senior year, Sheila was offered a four-year scholarship from Arnold College. After the scholarship was offered, Arnold College merged with Bridgeport University and the scholarship paperwork was lost.

Sheila married Arthur Hansen at Sacred Heart Church on September 3, 1955. They honeymooned in the Lake George, NY, area. After their honeymoon, they lived in Seaside Village until 1959 when they moved to Devon, CT. In 1968, the family, including Florence, moved to Thousand Oaks, CA, in Southern California because of Art’s new job. Florence was part of their family from the day Art and Sheila married. Art always called Florence his mother because she was such a great person, and he didn’t want to call her his mother-in-law.

While in Thousand Oaks, Sheila enrolled in Ventura College to become an RN. She graduated in 1974 and then took a nursing position at Los Robles Hospital.

In 1977 Art, Sheila, Florence, Sharon, and Christine (Margie and Kim had already moved out), moved to Joy Woods in Occidental, CA, to property Art and Sheila had purchased years before. Art designed and built the house that would be their home for 47 years.

While living in Occidental, Sheila worked as an RN at Palm Drive Hospital in Sebastopol.  Sheila’s nursing career spanned decades and was an important part of her life.  Those who worked with Sheila say she was admired for her excellent care, kindness and compassion, and great sense of humor.

Sheila was a dedicated parishioner of St. Philip the Apostle Church. She didn’t hesitate when Naomi Curtis asked her to help set up the parish Rural Food Program. Naomi and Sheila operated the program for ten years before turning it over to Rodney Demartini and Frederick Kasi in 2008. Sheila also supported and worked with Art as volunteers for twenty-four years maintaining and improving Calvary Cemetery in Bodega (1999 –2023). They worked hard to make it a beautiful final resting place for many, including Sheila.

Sheila had a silly sense of humor and loved to laugh. She was an avid sports fan and her yelling at the TV was a running joke in the family! When her grandsons came to her home, they didn’t sit down to watch a game on TV with Art, they would sit down and talk sports with Sheila. She was an encyclopedia of statistics and names of players and teams.

Sheila had many interests - art, music, poetry, and literature. She enjoyed travel, starting with family camping trips to New Hampshire and Montreal, Canada; travel to many states; and on to international travel including Italy, France, Austria, Greece, Egypt, and Ireland. Sheila loved growing flowers and always had bouquets around the house.  She enjoyed watching and feeding birds and had numerous feeders around the yard.

Sheila had a gift for making people feel special whether you were her friend or family. She noticed your unique qualities and let you know, through her words or actions, that she saw you. Sheila was very intentional in her connections with people.

Sheila loved her family deeply. She had the gift of being both mother and friend to her four daughters, always offering to listen, love and support them. In times of need, Sheila’s tender, caring heart would be there to comfort, with a phone call, chicken soup, or a visit. Receiving and giving cards brought great joy to Sheila. Each family member had cards chosen with great care by her and the children’s cards often included her poems and freshly washed and ironed dollar bills.

After suffering a major stroke on June 7, Art brought Sheila home from the hospital on June 10 to their home in Joy Woods to enter Hospice care. Sheila is survived by Art, her loving husband of 69 years; her loving daughters Margie Hansen, Kim Hansen, Sharon Spaulding (Mark), and Christine Teaford; and her thirteen grandchildren and thirteen great grandchildren who called her “GraMMa” because Sheila always had M&Ms at the house. Sheila was preceded in death by her great grandson Aiden Hansen.

A Celebration of Life will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, July 8, 2023, at St. Philip the Apostle Church in Occidental, CA. Reception to follow at the Union Hotel.

In lieu of flowers please send donations to:

Our Lady of Victory Charities

On behalf of OLV Human Services

780 Ridge Road

Lackawanna, NY 14218

Calvary Cemetery

P.O. Box 339

Occidental, CA 95465