James Morris Hanson

James Morris Hanson was born on August 19, 1940, in Lafayette, Louisiana.



He joined the military at age seventeen and served more than fifteen years in the Air Force and Army. Jim’s time began with deployment as a sniper in Cambodia and Laos during the early Vietnam conflict and concluded with time as a Tank Commander with the Nebraska National Guard.



While in the military, he was educated in the medical field and became a registered laboratory technologist. Jim served in this capacity in hospitals across several different states. While employed in Sterling, Colorado, Jim met and married Julie Anderson in 1972. Jim had three sons, Erik, Kyle, and Mitchell. The Hanson family subsequently spent time raising the boys in Deer Lodge, MT and Sidney, MT.



After Jim’s retirement, Jim and Julie moved to Booneville, IN. Following Julie’s retirement, the couple moved to Belgrade, MT where they have resided for the past six years.



While in Belgrade, Jim greatly enjoyed shooting his hand-loaded ammunition with friends at the Rifle Range in Manhattan, MT. As age and diabetes took eyesight away in the right eye, Jim learned to shoot left-handed and achieved some of the best groups of his life while 80 years old.



Jim died on June 10, 2021, after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He is survived by his wife, Julie; his sons, Erik (IN), Kyle (and wife Tami) (CO), and Mitchell (and wife Emily) (MT); grandchildren, Amiah, Sadie and Hunter James Hanson; and sister, Sharlene Durio (LA).



A Memorial Service will be held on July 31, 2021, 10am at Peace Lutheran Church in Belgrade, MT.