Forbes Hanson, 86, of Clarkfield MN, passed into eternity on Monday June 8, 2026, at CentraCare Hospital, Monticello, MN. Visitation will be on Tuesday, June 16, 2026, from 5 to 7 PM, with a prayer service beginning at 6:30 PM, at the J.H. Lynner Funeral Home in Clarkfield. Visitation will continue on Wednesday, June 17, at 12 PM at the Clarkfield Assembly of God Church, followed by the funeral service at 1 PM. Interment to follow the service in the Granite Falls City Cemetery. Arrangements are with the J.H. Lynner Funeral Home in Clarkfield www.jhlynner.com

Forbes Tyrone Hanson was born on October 4, 1939, at home on the White Divide farm in rural Granite Falls. He was the second child and first son born to Iry Julian and Ruth Doris (Velde) Hanson. He was raised in the Lutheran and Baptist faiths and was led to the Lord as a young child by his Uncle Kermit Velde, a pastor at Swan Lake Church, rural Cottonwood, MN.

Forbes’ parents bought a farm east of Hazel Run, MN, and Forbes attended Hazel Run School through sixth grade. He attended Granite Falls High School and graduated in 1957. While in school, he played tuba in the band and was active in 4-H. He was especially proud to be a member of the 1956 football team that won the trophy as Little Sioux Conference champions. He practiced the whole summer before his senior year to become the team kicker.

Forbes studied Business at Mankato State University. He enlisted in the National Guard and worked as a medic, and also worked at Mankato Hospital in the psychiatric ward.

He was living in south Minneapolis when one frigid morning, his car refused to start. He spotted a service truck attempting to start a car in the adjoining parking lot and failing. He walked over and proposed a solution. If the mechanic would start Forbes's car, Forbes would take the stranded woman to her workplace. It worked! He suggested that she return to her apartment to warm up while he and the car do the same. He would call her. Soon they were on their way, and he learned that she was a teacher in St. Paul. He stood by his word and was late to work that day.

Fifteen months later, February 12, 1966, Forbes and Hazel Bernice Ackland were married. They moved to Lincoln, Illinois, where they lived beside Bob and Judith Gordon and became lifelong friends. Daughter Melanie Leah Hanson was born in Lincoln.

Forbes began his career in finance, managing offices for Credithrift Financial. He became a "loan builder" and soon earned the reputation of fixing troubled offices. He and his two girls (Hazel and Melanie) moved eleven times in seventeen years and set the record in 1970 when they had three different addresses and also had the furniture in storage for two months. Those were good years with lots of adventures. Melanie loved zoos, state fairs, baseball and hockey games and dining out, and Forbes made sure that he and his girls took the opportunities.

The family lived in Des Moines for twenty-one years. There Forbes achieved twenty years with Credithrift and chose early retirement. He then got his commercial driver's license and drove for Ruan Transportation for fifteen years before retiring at sixty-five and moving to Clarkfield, MN in 2005. He worked for a few years for Prairie Grain Partners hauling mostly corn.

Forbes never lost his interest in farming. As a young child he was fascinated with machinery. A stranger came up to his house to report that there was a tractor plowing a field with no one on it. Iry proudly said "Oh, that's my boy!" Forbes was standing to steer the tractor, and the big tractor wheel hid him. Wherever he lived he observed seasons, fields, activities and weather. He sold farm equipment in his early days and also worked for Minneapolis Moline in Minneapolis. Living in Clarkfield and watching the elevator activity and surrounding countryside was a pleasure.

In retirement, Forbes was a member of Lions Club and was on the board for Valhalla Apartments. He and Hazel enjoyed coach tours to Washington DC and to the Great Northwest, also Branson, MO., Cranberry Fest, Twins games and plays. They took Melanie to the state fair, to Illinois to see the Gordons, to the Omaha Zoo and others, to many parades and concerts, and to Minneapolis to see countless Daytons Christmas displays and visits with relatives.

Forbes and Hazel dedicated themselves to the Lord. He believed in God, family, country and community. Forbes was a planner, always thinking ahead. He was known for improving any home he had and was famous for producing lush grass at all his homes. He was a positive thinker, friendly and optimistic. He was a hard worker and prided himself on that, saying that he learned that from his dad. He also had strong convictions.

Forbes had always followed sports. His first date with Hazel was to a hockey game. (He told her later that it had been a test and she passed.) Melanie watched sports with her dad and learned "The Star-Spangled Banner" from doing this.

In retirement, a new sport attracted his attention. He discovered harness racing and spent many happy hours watching the standardbred horses. He remembered an amazing amount of information about individual horses. Hazel developed her meager computer skills researching his favorites and he kept notebooks of news stories. Friends were sent his way to improve the experience. He also started feeding birds. He said it was so that the cat would be entertained. He had feeders near the house and near the alley and kept busy trying to entice his favorites.

He is survived by wife, Hazel; daughter, Melanie; two brothers: Delano (Debbie) in Mankato, MN, and Lyndon (Ann) in Savage, MN; one sister, Julene in Bismarck, ND; brothers-in-law, Ralph Officer in Edina, MN, Charles (Barb) in Summerville, SC, and many nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Iry and Doris (Velde) Hanson; older sister, Syrie (Hanson) Officer, and brother-in-law, Brian Gutknecht.