Grace Odelia Hanson Strang
Grace was born Dec 15, 1918 in Oberlin, Kansas and passed away Dec 28, 2020 in Irvine, California at the age of 102. Grace's parents, Herman Hanson and Camilla Votapka, are first generation Americans, their parents having emigrated to America from Norway and from Czechoslovakia. After Grace's parents met in New York and were married, they moved to Kansas to farm on a piece of land. Grace grew up on that farm until the age of 10 when her father passed away. She then moved to Ithaca in upstate New York. Grace lived on a farm in Ithaca until the age of about 20 when her Mom passed away and having no need to stay in the cold weather in New York, she was prompted to find a sunny place to live. It was during WWII, but she packed up a large trunk and sent it to California, found a way to take a train (usually allowed only for military families) across the United States and once in Southern California never left, except to travel for leisure. Before leaving New York Grace had attended a few years of Art School at Albright School of Fine Arts in Buffalo, New York and once Grace came to California, she continued her art training and eventually, through hard work, became a talented and artistic Interior Designer with her own company "Grace Strang Interiors" which she worked at for over forty years. Grace loved her career and was able to stay working into her 82nd year. She also loved to travel to new places all over the world. On one of her trips, she visited Norway and was able to meet some of her relatives. One of Grace's favorite places was the BEACH! She would sunbath for hours and get more and more tan. Grace is survived by her 2 children; Marcia Aline Strang and Kathy Maureen Johnson (Stephen), 3 grandchildren; Jennifer Thiot (Charlie), Marc Johnson (Lori) and Thomas Johnson (Krista) and 13 beautiful great-grandchildren. Grace has found great joy in her family which she has always adored, supported and taken such good care of and they all adore her as well. She lived a long and well-lived life; ever humble and grateful for all she has been blessed with; always happy with what she has. As a faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Grace has always strived to follow the example and teachings of Jesus Christ and has found joy in serving in the church and in her community. She has loved and been loved by her family and friends. Grace will always be remembered and we will miss her deeply.