Roxanne Hanna, a lady with grace , beauty, charm, and dignity had a life filled with fun, laughter, travel, sports, responsibilities, and tragedies. She had a professional career in Title and Escrow , Sales and Marketing, along with a great passion and commitment for community service. Roxanne was a wife, and mother, as she was called, Mom, Nana, Grandma Roxy, and Great Grandma Roxanne, and “Just Rox” who passed away and went into Gods hands from multiple health issues on Sunday, December 17, 2023.
Roxanne was the oldest child of Nancy Wright-Hardy and Glee Hoover Hardy and was born on May 25, 1950 at Johnson AFB Hospital, in Iruagawa, Honshu, Japan. Her mother, Nancy was a Red Cross Army Nurse, and her father , Glee was a Technical Sargent in the United States Air Force. Her Birth was Certified, as an American Citizen by the Secretary of State, Henry A Kissinger and the US Department of State on August 11, 1950. Both of Roxanne’s parents preceded her in death when Roxanne was in her early 20’s. Roxanne’s family heritage goes back to the founding territory of Minnesota. Her Great, Great Grandfather was Willis A Gorman, the Second Territorial Governor and Federal Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Minnesota Territory. He was appointed to Territorial Governor in 1853 by President, Franklin Pierce and served until 1857. Following his term in office, Mr. Gorman began a law practice in St. Paul, Minnesota where he married and had a Daughter who married and she had a Daughter, Anna W Van Kleek , who married Douglas Wright , Nancy Irvine’s parents.
Roxanne was also preceded in death by her Brother, Douglas Hardy, of Sacramento, CA, and her former Husband, Donald Bates of Sacramento, CA. Don and Roxanne had four children, Donald Roy ( Tacia ) Bates, Julie Anne Bates ( Deceased) , Jacqueline Bates ( Deceased) and Phillip Allan ( Lianna) Bates. Roxanne has six grandchildren, Thomas, Nicole, Brooke, Lexie, Joceline, and Danica with one Great Grand Child, JulieAnne. All now live in the Sacramento, CA area except Danica who lives in Commerce TWP, MI with Bill’s Daughter Krista Hanna ( Duncan) Harmsworth. Roxanne has a half-sister , Deanna Lisota, ( Don deceased ) of Melrose, WI. Their relationship grew over the years after Deanna visited Roxanne and reunited in Sacramento in 2006.
Her children and grandchildren were the pride and joy, and the mainline source of fun , laughter and love that was shared with her family. Roxanne loved the sports activities her sons were involved with in school and little league and her daughter Julie Anne was quite the soccer star playing on several competitive girls soccer teams traveling the region in Northern California. Besides being a mother, and grandmother, Roxanne had a very successful professional career with, Kimberly Clark , as an Account Sales Representative, Sacramento Title Company, as a Marketing and Account Manager, Chicago Title, as an Escrow Assistant, and North American Title Company , as an Escrow Assistant. Roxanne’s community service work included being selected as the Chairperson of the Woman’s Council of Realtors Fashion Shows, Member of the Sacramento Chamber of Commerce, Economic Development Committee, “Sacramento on the Go”, Sacramento Zoo Development Board, Arden Arcade Rotary Club with – A “Paul Harris Fellowship” Award. Roxanne was also recognized by the Sacramento Association of Realtors as The “Affiliate of the Year” Award. She was a State of California Notary and Bond, for professional documentation authorization, and was inducted into North American Title’s , “Presidents Club” in 2005 for “Exceptional Service and Outstanding Achievement”.
Roxanne’s life was also full of tragedies, first with the accidental drowning of her infant daughter Jacqueline in 1969 , then being kidnapped at Gunpoint from a Real Estate Realtors Open House in 1992 and then to experience the senseless murder of her Daughter, Julie Ann in 1997. Roxanne was introduced to Bill Hanna in 1992 just before her kidnapping, by her Managing Partner of Sacramento Title Company , and Bill’s President and Owner of Kimmel Construction and Development Company who were members of the Arden Arcade Rotary Club together. Roxanne and Bill were both involved with Community development work with “Sacramento on the Go” and the Sacramento Zoo Development Board together. They both loved sports and Roxanne and Bill were San Francisco 49ers fans, loved to snow ski with friends at Lake Tahoe Resorts, enjoyed water sports, Boating on the river with friends, and especially loved the magnificence of the Pacific Ocean Beach and surroundings in Carmel, California. In Carmel Highlands they purchased a vacation timeshare together after they got Married in Lake Tahoe in November 1996. Roxanne’s marriage to Bill extended her family relations with new Brother and Sister in-laws, Dan and Sandy Hanna, Buckner, MO and Jerry and Debbie Hanna of Independence , MO. With Dan and Jerry’s immediate families the nieces and nephews grew with their families who gained a new aunt to share the love, laughter and caring for Roxanne.
Roxanne, and Her Sisters In-laws Debbie and Sandy always were able to get together over the years and celebrate Birthdays and Special occasions. Bill retired from Commercial RE Development and they moved from their home in Carmichael, CA to Lees Summit, Mo in 2017. After 30 years of Marriage to Bill and sharing a life full of love for one another , Bill shares this thought and Prayer for you, Roxanne:
Missing You Always
You never said I’m leaving You
never said Goodbye
You were gone before we knew it And only God knows why
In life I loved you dearly In death I love you still In my heart I hold a place That only you can fill
It broke my heart to lose you But you didn’t go alone
A part of me went with you The day God took you home
A Memorial Service will be held for Roxanne after the First of the year. Early March 2024 is expected. Family and friends from across the USA will then have the opportunity to make travel plans to attend. More specific details of the service will be provided once all arrangements have been made.
Arrangements: Royer Funeral Home, Grain Valley, MO 816-847-4441