Obituary: Dawn Hanna

Irene Dawn Hanna passed away peacefully at her home on June 24, 2025, surrounded by her loving family.

Dawn was born in Shelton, Washington, on July 15, 1935, to J. Grisdale Perry and Verretta Mae Crosby.  Dawn spent much of her childhood in Forest Grove, Oregon, where she graduated high school.  While obtaining her bachelor’s degree at Oregon State University, she went on a blind date and met the love of her life, Harry “Skip” Hanna.

Dawn and Skip were married in 1957 in Forest Grove and soon thereafter moved to Scott Valley.  A “city girl,” as she called herself, Dawn took to ranch life.  She quickly had to learn how to both drive a car and ride a horse.  She was a substitute teacher for over 40 years and also enjoyed helping out with ranch work.  As the ranch grew, so did Dawn and Skip’s family as they had four children: Stacie, Greg, Grant, and Judd.

Dawn lived the remainder of her life on the ranch.  She maintained a huge garden and filled her yard with beautiful flowers.  Her doors were always open and countless friends, and sometimes strangers, who needed a place to stay for a day, a week, or even a year, were welcomed into her home.  Dawn loved surrounding herself with family and regularly hosted “cowboy lunch” to feed the ranch crew.  When she wasn’t working in her yard or attending her children or grandchildren’s events, Dawn and Skip loved traveling.  Much of their time was spent driving or sailing around Baja, but they also traveled all over the world.  Dawn was a devout Christian and a lifelong member of the United Methodist Church.

Dawn is survived by her children and their spouses, Stacie and George Gephart; Greg and Sherri Hanna; Grant and Veronica Hanna; and Judd and Regina Hanna, and her grandchildren, Amber Gephart, Hannah Brakke, Gabriel Smithers, Adalyne Fettig, Lacy Rhodes, Darby Bidwell, Roxanne Wood, Henry Hanna, Olivia Hanna, Dylan Hanna, and Grady Hanna, and her great-grandchildren, Freya, Emerson, Raylan, Rachel, Henley, and Rory.

Dawn was preceded in death by her husband, Skip, and her granddaughter, Rachel.

Funeral services will be held on July 3, 2025, at 4:00, at the United Methodist Church in Etna, California.  In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Scott Valley Scholarship Fund in Dawn’s memory.

sourced- Girdner Funeral Chapel