Bio- Palo Alto Community Book
SURNAMES: INGVERSON
Hans P Hansen has the distinction of
being one of the oldest business men in the Palo Alto area, both in age
and in length of service. Although well beyond the allotted three
score years and ten, he is still active in the plumbing firm which he
established thirty years ago and in which he now has a partner, his son
, Howard E.
Born in Denmark, on the 15th of
November, 1869, he is a son of Peter and Elsie Marie Hansen. HE
went ot school in his native country until he was fourteen years old
and then at this tender age he got his first job with a firm as an
errand boy and after a short while he went to Germany where he worked
in a dairy, but soon returned to Denmark where he continued daily work.
Having heard of the opportunities in
American, he decided to come to this country and on Christmas Eve,
1889, he arrived in San Francisco and the next day came to Menlo
Park. For a year later he learned the plumbing trade in the shop
of the late J. P. Ahlert. After working there for a time he
subsequently took employment in other plumbing jobs in Northern
California and finally worked for Louis Dahl in Palo ALto. In
1921 he established his own business.
During the course of the years, the
Hansen establishment has carried on an immense amount of work in Palo
Alto and surrounding areas including Los Altos, Mountain View, and
Menlo Park. The plant is a large one, occupying two structures;
one, 40 x 100, with two stories, and a recent addition 50 x 100,
where all of the firm's fabricating is done. From six to seven
people are employed by the firm and all types of plumbing and heating
work are conducted. Literally hundreds of Palo Alto and nearby
residents have had their plumbing and heating installed by the Hansen
firm, and numerous important buildings such as the Palo Alto Clinic,
Stanford Stadium, fraternity houses and commercial structures have
employed the services of the Hansen organization in the installation of
plumbing and heating.
It is interesting to note that prior
to the establishment of his own firm, Mr. Hansen was foreman to Fred
Snook of San Francisco in the installation of the plumbing on the
original unit of the present Palo Alto High School.
Prominently identified with a number
of organizations, Mr. Hansen is a charter member of the local Kiwanis
Club, a member of the Palo Alto Elk's Lodge and belongs to the Master
Plumbers' Assocation. For nearly twenty years he played the
cornet in the old Palo Alto bank which was a noted orgaization of its
day.
Mr. Hansen was married to Miss Selma
Ingverson, who is deceased. Three children were born to this
union: Howard E., his partner, Walter E., who is also conneted with the
Hansen firm, and Elsie Marie, now the wife of M. T. Bishop , a merchant
of Wellington, Nevada.
During the many years of his residence
in this locality, Mr. Hansen has seen many changes. When he arrived in
Meno Park in 1889, the population of Palo Alto was only a few thousand
and business lots wer selling on University Avenue for $300.00 and good
residential lots were obtainable for $200.00 or less.
page 278, Palo Alto Community Book, published by Guy C Miller- 1952
transcribed by Cferoben
HOWARD E HANSEN
Bio- Palo Alto Community Book
SURNAMES: SHAW
Howard E Hansen, son of Hans P and
Selma Ingverson Hansen, is a native son of Palo Alto. Born here
on October 6, 1904, he attended elementary school in this community and
then entered high school. While still in high school he worked
part time with his father in the plumbing trade and upon graduation in
1923 he became a full time employee and ultimately his father made him
a partner in the business, and the success with the firm has long
enjoyed has been due, in no small measure to Mr. Hansen's participation
in the business. He is one of the new native born citizens of
this age to have spent his entire life in this city.
Mr. Hansen is a member of the Elk's
Lodge.
He married Miss Ellen Shaw and they
have two sons; Howard E., Jr., and Allen P. Hansen.
page 279, Palo Alto Community Book, published by Guy C Miller, 1952
transcribed by Cferoben
PALO ALTO HISTORY AND GENEALOGY
SANTA CLARA COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES