Knute Hansen
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| Knute Hansen | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1915 Norway |
| Died | 1988-02-26 Thunder Bay |
| Partner | |
Knute Hansen (1915 – 26 February 1988) was a Fort William ski jumper and, with his brother Tor, a co-founder of the Little Norway ski hill on Mount McRae that became Big Thunder.
Family
- Son of Harald Hansen (c. 1889–1964) and Sigrid Hansen (c. 1890–1969); brother of Arne Hansen (1911–1983), Erling Hansen, Tor Hansen (1921–2016) and Esther Mackereth.[1][2]
- Married Margaret Helen Hansen (née Doak) (1927–2007) on 12 November 1949.[3][4][5][6]
- Margaret's 2007 obituary names their five children: Betsy Ristimaki, Jim, Margit Campbell, Kris and Lynda Wiesbrock. It lists Tor and Maureen Hansen as her brother-in-law and his wife, and says Knute had died in 1988.[1]
- His nephew was the actor and director Kim Hansen (1953–2019), Tor's son.[7]
Death
Knute Hansen died in Thunder Bay on 26 February 1988. The Chronicle-Journal published his obituary on 29 February 1988 (p. 24) and a funeral notice on 2 March 1988 (p. 24); the Thunder Bay Times-News also carried a notice on 1 March 1988 (p. 22).[8][9] He is buried at Sunset Memorial Gardens, where his headstone, shared with Margaret, reads "Knute 1915 - 1988".[10] The full text of the 1988 obituary has not been seen; it is on microfilm at the Thunder Bay Public Library's Brodie Resource Library.
Skiing
Knute Hansen jumped for the Fort William Ski Club: a 1933 photograph shows him and his brother Erling going off the club's large jump side by side.[11] In the early 1960s he and his brother Tor established the Little Norway ski hill on Mount McRae, meant as a training centre for downhill skiers and jumpers.[12] The site later became Sundance and then the Big Thunder National Training Center and its ski jumps.[13]
In the Fort William papers
The Thunder Bay Public Library's index of the Fort William Daily Times-Journal records:
- 20 February 1935, p. 1: photograph, Knute Hansen wins a trophy at a ski event.[14]
- 20 May 1935, p. 3: Knute Hansen in an accident.[14]
- 6 April 1942, p. 3: photograph, Knute Hansen arrives overseas (Second World War).[15]
- 21 January 1950, p. 1: photograph, Knute Hansen "to world ski championships".[16] The index entry does not say whether he went as a competitor or in another role; the 1950 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships were held at Lake Placid, New York.
See also History of skiing in Thunder Bay.
Thunder Bay Museum material (October 2026)
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- 1939: The Thunder Bay Museum calls Knute Hansen "one of the co-founders of what would eventually become Big Thunder". It holds two 1939 photographs of him jumping at a Port Arthur Ski Club meet at Strathcona Heights.[17][18] A 1987 Lakehead Living article by Diane Imrie says he "reached a height of 155 ft off the Mount McKay jump at this meet, setting a new hill and Ontario record".[19] The photos are captioned Strathcona, not Mount McKay, so the two may come from different 1939 meets. His brother Erling Hansen was entered in the jumping at the Dominion championships on Mount McKay in February 1939.[20]
- 1963–64, Little Norway: Knute and Tor had a crew cutting trails from April 1963 on the hill that became Little Norway. Their aim was a 90-metre FIS jump and a jumping academy to make the area "the jump capital of Canada". Roger Patola wrote that Knute "was once the best jumper in Canada". The first tow ran in February 1964.[21][22][23]
- 30 March 1966: Knute, 50, of RR 1 Fort William and "co-manager of the resort with his brother", hit a tree while checking the slopes and broke both legs below the knees. It was his first accident in 46 years of skiing. The paper said he had represented Canada "at many Olympic ski jumping competitions before and after World War II", a claim not yet checked against Olympic records.[24]
See Big Thunder: From the Thunder Bay Museum archives.
Norwegian records
The 1928 emigration record gives Knut Hansen's birth date as 26 November 1915. He sailed to Canada with his mother and siblings on the Stavangerfjord in August 1928.[25] See Harald Hansen: Family and descendants.
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Margaret Helen Hansen" (obituary). The Chronicle-Journal (via Legacy.com), 15 November 2007.
- ↑ "Arne Hansen (1911–1983)", Find a Grave memorial 154466572, Mountain View Cemetery, Thunder Bay (inscription "HANSEN ARNE 1911 - 1983 MYRTLE 1915 - 2006"; parents linked as Harald Hansen, 1889–1964, and Sigrid Hansen, 1890–1969).
- ↑ Fort William Daily Times-Journal, 14 November 1949, p. 7
- ↑ Port Arthur News-Chronicle, 16 November 1949, p. 7
- ↑ Port Arthur News-Chronicle, 17 November 1949, p. 5
- ↑ Fort William Daily Times-Journal, 19 November 1949, p. 6
- ↑ "Kim Hansen" (obituary). TBNewsWatch, 27 December 2019.
- ↑ "Thunder Bay Obituary Index 1972–1989". Thunder Bay Public Library (index of The Chronicle-Journal).
- ↑ "Thunder Bay Obituary Index 1988–1997". Thunder Bay Public Library.
- ↑ "Sunset Memorial Gardens", headstone photographs and transcriptions (RootsWeb, J. Mitchell).
- ↑ "The need for speed in the winter in Fort William". Hot Rods and Jalopies (local history blog), January 2010 (1933 photograph captioned "Knute and Erling Hansen").
- ↑ "Tor Hansen" (obituary). TBNewsWatch / The Chronicle-Journal, 26–27 July 2016 (also at Legacy.com and Everest of Thunder Bay).
- ↑ "Big Thunder Ski Jumping Center". Wikipedia (drawing on Marion, J.-P., "Big Thunder frozen in time", Superior Outdoors, Winter 2009, pp. 26–30).
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 "Index of social notices, news and photos, Fort William Daily Times-Journal 1930–1939" (compiled by David Nicholson). Thunder Bay Public Library.
- ↑ "Index of social notices, news and photos, Fort William Daily Times-Journal 1940–1949" (compiled by David Nicholson). Thunder Bay Public Library.
- ↑ "Index of social notices, news and photos, Fort William Daily Times-Journal 1950–1954" (compiled by David Nicholson). Thunder Bay Public Library.
- ↑ Warren, Emma Hurley (Archival Assistant, Thunder Bay Museum). Email to Michael Currie, "Re: Big Thunder", 26 October 2026, 8:18 PM Bangkok time (personal communication; Cc Michael deJong, curator). The email shared a Hightail folder, "Big Thunder Resources", of about 80 files: newspaper clippings from 1937 to 1998 and museum photographs.
- ↑ Thunder Bay Museum photographs 984.53.1018.a, .e, .h and .n, "1939 meet, Strathcona Heights, Port Arthur Ski Club", supplied by Emma Hurley Warren, email to Michael Currie, 26 October 2026 (personal communication).
- ↑ Imrie, Diane (Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame). Article in Lakehead Living, 1987, as summarised by Emma Hurley Warren, Thunder Bay Museum, email to Michael Currie, 26 October 2026 (personal communication). The 1987 article itself has not been seen.
- ↑ "Port Arthur Girls Entered In Ski Events". Port Arthur News-Chronicle, 23 February 1939, p. 1 (continued p. 12); clipping from the Thunder Bay Museum archives, supplied by Emma Hurley Warren (archival assistant) in an email to Michael Currie, 26 October 2026 (personal communication). Scan.
- ↑ Sports column ("A new ski resort is in the making..."). Port Arthur News-Chronicle, 29 August 1963; clipping from the Thunder Bay Museum archives, supplied by Emma Hurley Warren (archival assistant) in an email to Michael Currie, 26 October 2026 (personal communication). Scan.
- ↑ Patola, Roger. "On the Slopes: Local Clubs Geared For Snow". Port Arthur News-Chronicle, 23 November 1963; clipping from the Thunder Bay Museum archives, supplied by Emma Hurley Warren (archival assistant) in an email to Michael Currie, 26 October 2026 (personal communication). Scan.
- ↑ "'Little Norway' In Operation". Port Arthur News-Chronicle, 28 February 1964; clipping from the Thunder Bay Museum archives, supplied by Emma Hurley Warren (archival assistant) in an email to Michael Currie, 26 October 2026 (personal communication). Scan.
- ↑ "Legs Broken In Ski Mishap". Port Arthur News-Chronicle, 1 April 1966, p. 2; clipping from the Thunder Bay Museum archives, supplied by Emma Hurley Warren (archival assistant) in an email to Michael Currie, 26 October 2026 (personal communication). Scan.
- ↑ "Sigrid Hansen, born 30 September 1890", Oslo police district emigrant protocol no. 38 (1927–1931). Digitalarkivet. Departed 31 August 1928 on the Stavangerfjord for Canada, purpose "til sin mand" (to her husband), from Rjukan, with Arne (b. 28 May 1911), Erling (b. 18 April 1913), Knut (b. 26 November 1915), Astrid (b. 4 August 1917) and Thor (b. 20 September 1921).
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