Renowned Organist Edward Hansen, 69, Dies

He played the great organ works of Bach and the other masters across the United States and Europe - and he also played "Mr. Music Man" on the popular children's TV show, "Wunda Wunda."

Edward Allen Hansen, 69, leaves a sizable gap in the Seattle music community with his death Sunday (Dec. 13) from cancer. The organist also was chairman of Organ and Church Music Studies at University of Puget Sound; former president of the 21,000-member American Guild of Organists; and a conductor, lecturer and writer.

Fans of great pipe-organ music will remember the Noon Recital Series Mr. Hansen launched during his tenure as organist/choirmaster at the Plymouth Congregational Church from 1957 to 1991.

Mr. Hansen made regular appearances on the "Wunda Wunda" show from 1963 to 1971.

It is as a teacher that he will be most remembered.

"Even when he was in the hospital emergency room," says his daughter, Roberta Hansen Downey, "one of the hospital employees looked up and identified herself as one of his former students. She had been so inspired by him that she went on to get a master's degree in music."

Downey recalls how she always would get his good advice when she was encountering a tough spot in her own cello studies. Genial, kindly and wise, Mr. Hansen also served as a father figure to countless young students.

Mr. Hansen was born in Tacoma on Feb. 21, 1929. After graduating from Stadium High School he went on to the University of

Washington, where he earned two bachelor's degrees, a master's degree and finally a doctorate. He also studied at the Organ Institute of Andover, Mass., and earned a certificate from the Academy for Italian Organ Music in Pistoia, Italy.

Mr. Hansen taught in Seattle Public Schools from 1952 to 1955; was the organist for the Seattle Symphony Orchestra from 1959 to 1969; and held faculty posts at the UW and the Andover Organ Institute.

Kudos poured in for his performances. Reviewers called him "in the class of the foremost organists of our time" and "a great organ master."

Mr. Hansen is survived by his wife of 45 years, Jeanne Martinelli Hansen; three children, Dr. Kathryn DelBeccaro, Seattle Symphony cellist Roberta Hansen Downey, and percussionist Paul Hansen, all of Seattle; brothers Phillip of Tacoma and Robert, who lives near Boston; and a sister, Bernice Cook, of Puyallup; sons-in-law Mark DelBeccaro and Dan Downey; daughter-in-law Janice Findley; and five grandchildren.

Remembrances may be sent to four funds set up in Mr. Hansen's memory: the Seattle Symphony Concert Organ Fund, P.O. Box 21906, Seattle, WA 98111-3906; the Ed Hansen Memorial Scholarship Fund, Office of Development, University of Puget Sound, 1500 N. Warner, Tacoma, WA 98416; the Ed Hansen Fund at the American Guild of Organists, 475 Riverside Drive, Suite 1260, New York, NY 10015; and the Plymouth Congregational Church Music Fund, 1217 Sixth Ave., Seattle, WA 98101.

A remembrance service will be held 2 p.m. on Jan. 9 at Plymouth Congregational Church.