JoAnn Hanson, 74, of Tracy, MN, passed away on September 15, 2026, in great peace, surrounded by her family at home. Her Celebration of Life service will take place at 11:00 a.m. Monday, September 21, 2026, at Lake Sarah Baptist Church with visitation one hour before the service. Stephens Funeral Service – Tracy Area Funeral Home is assisting the family with arrangements.
She was born on February 16, 1952, in Westbrook, MN, to Ivan and Lorraine Carlson. As a girl, she spent hours lost in paper dolls, and every summer her family made the trip to Lake Miltona, a tradition she loved and carried forward once she had children of her own. Jo met Rolf Hanson in high school, where they started dating her junior year after connecting at his senior prom. On October 16, 1971 they were married and began building a life together that would center on family, faith, and a great love of the outdoors. In their days on the farm, Jo could drive a tractor as well as anyone; she kept every animal fed and cared for, cats included (and there were plenty of them) and made sure there was a hot meal on the table at the end of the day. Family came first, and she cherished her role as Grandma more than almost any other. She loved nothing more than getting down on the floor to play with her grandkids or spending an afternoon baking cupcakes together and was a fixture on the sidelines at their games. She and Rolf made a habit of getting back to Colorado to visit her daughter, husband, and all the grand-furbabies. The mountains had a way of bringing her peace and stillness that her soul craved. Her faith was central to who she was. God carried her through some of life’s hardest moments, including eighteen years ago, when she found her way to sobriety and never looked back. She carried that milestone with quiet pride, and she spent much of the years that followed doing for others what her own recovery had given her: showing up, without judgment, as a steady presence. People trusted her with the hardest parts of their lives, and she never once treated that trust lightly. Ask anyone who knew Jo and the same words come up: generous, warm, endlessly kind with a dash of spunk. She gave without being asked, whether that meant a plant from her garden, a meal, or simply listening. People left her company feeling like they mattered, because to her, they sincerely did. To her family, she was more than a wife and mother. She was a best friend, and she had a way of making wherever she was feel like home. Home, for Jo, always included a breathtaking garden. She had a gift for bringing together colors, varieties, water, and light in a way that could turn an ordinary yard into something that felt magical, and anyone who has stood in her backyard has seen that gift firsthand.
JoAnn is survived by her husband, Rolf Hanson; her children, Paul Hanson, Angie (Matt) Knakmuhs, and Heather (Colby) Wickman; her grandchildren, Edward, Jazmyne and Mira Hanson, and Noah and Lauren Knakmuhs; great-granddaughter Blakely; along with more fur grandbabies than could ever fit on this page; and her sisters, Jan Carlson and Judy (Roger) Storey. She was preceded in death by her parents, Ivan and Lorraine Carlson.
