George Nels Hanson—alternatively known by an array of monikers, most unfit for civilized print—departed this mortal coil in the early hours of Wednesday, July 1st, 2026, at the immodest age of 69. On the auspicious day of his birth, February 5th, 1957, his unsuspecting parents, Monica and Donald Hanson, could hardly have envisaged the forces of refined chaos and unbridled wit that they had unleashed upon the rest of us. As the eldest brother to five sisters, his storied childhood passed in raillery and rebellion that tested the patience of saints and the constraints of physics. Particularly portentous legends of his youth still told today by the bards include tales of tying live flies to strands of his siters’ hair, wiring the basement so that he could introduce his mild-mannered mother to the tones of Black Sabbath while she did the wash, and setting his own toe on fire following a recently disinfected injury just to see if rubbing alcohol would burn.

George attended Tomahawk High School, where his fellow classmates, given the opportunity, would likely have voted him most likely to elicit the formal censure of the Holy See. Upon graduating as senior class president in 1975, he enlisted in the Navy and joined the advanced electronics program, representing the dubious convergence of his life-long proclivities for voltage and water. After three years of military service, he left the high seas for shallower waters, settling nearer home in Rhinelander, Wisconsin. He worked for a time at EO Johnson Company before putting his electrical prowess toward the production of paper at the Rhinelander Mill for over two decades.

In 1984, he married his first wife, Lisa Breneman, and the couple soon welcomed a precocious daughter, Margret “Peggy” Hanson, into the fray of existence. Peggy, imbued with her father’s keen appetence for sophisticated rock’n’roll and hardcore literature, would, in time, bless him with two beautiful grandchildren, Mahjia and Jack Bemi, who brought him immeasurable joy.

In the early naughts, George achieved the status of Master Electrician and started his own company as an electrical contractor. His most high-voltage encounter, however, would come not in his professional life but in his romantic one, with the arrival of Paula Itzov, the love of his life, on the scene. In November 2009, George made this fiery and formidable pint-sized beauty his wife—an elegant milestone in a legendary romance that ennobled not only George but all who were privileged to witness it.

When not serenading his beloved with romantic verses or directing lesser electrical currents with tools and wires, George could be found, in this the true prime of his life, traversing the Northwoods and Midwest alike on his Harley, usually with his wife Paula or niece “Cleatus” in tow. A man of many talents and passions, George was also a voracious reader, redoubtable intellectual, and encyclopedia of knowledge, although he himself often likened his mind to a steel trap: “rusty and illegal in 47 states.”

Following Paula’s tragic and untimely death in 2015, George sought solace in the ancient rocks and scenic rivers of Navajo Dam, New Mexico. Here, he lived out the remainder of his days in the service of benevolent overlords—his dogs Hitchens and Olena and his cat Memnoch. In his later years, George had few greater joys than fly-fishing along the San Juan River, playing his electric guitar, and taking Hitch on “buggy rides” through the rocky hills of Navajo Dam. Although he left his Harley behind in Wisconsin, he remained a true biker at heart all his life, never turning down a “roller dog,” a “weasel on a stick,” or any conceivable chance to “kill bugs with [his] face.” George also remained an ardent, steadfast, and informed advocate of liberal democracy at home and abroad—particularly in Ukraine—believing whole-heartedly in the equal right of every individual to freedom from tyranny and to the American ideals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

George is survived by his precious grandchildren Mahjia and Jack, his five mouthy sisters—Tina (Henry) Loza, Mary Morris, Jane Hanson, Lori (Don) Ogden, and Susan Hanson—and a veritable slew of nieces and nephews. He is further survived by his de facto daughter Madi Henry, her husband Gary, and their children Tucker, Morgan, and Kodi. He is further further survived by many dear friends, including Rick Lunde, Patti Timken, Bev and Tom Gillespie, and numerous others. He is preceded in death by his parents Monica and “Sarge,” his daughter Peggy, and the love of his life Paula.

Celebrations of Life will be held in Navajo Dam, New Mexico and in Wisconsin at later dates.