Tuesday, February 25, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Veteran pilot Homer Hansen dies

Ex-Nellis commander flew in three wars

As a brigadier general, Homer Hansen sits at his desk in November 1969 on his first day of work as commander of the Tactical Fighter Weapons Center at Nellis Air Force Base. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE HANSEN FAMILY

Las Vegas lost one of its legends in flight Sunday when retired Maj. Gen. Homer Hansen, a former Nellis Air Force Base weapons center commander and veteran pilot of three wars, died at his home in St. George, Utah. He was 80.

One of his daughters, Lynn Hansen, a Las Vegas attorney, said her father died of complications from a stroke. His career included 366 combat missions in World War II, and the Korean and Vietnam wars.

"He was the most positive man of my life," she said. "He always said he never had a bad day. Some were better than others but he never had a bad day."

He was a recipient of the Distinguished Service Medal, one of the top five Air Force awards and decorations, as well as the Legion of Merit and the Distinguished Flying Cross.

A photograph of Hansen, wearing his helmet and standing in front of his jet, appeared on the Nov. 20, 1950, cover of Newsweek magazine because he was the first U.S. pilot to fly 100 missions in Korea.

He was commander of the Tactical Fighter Weapons Center at Nellis, now called the Air Warfare Center, from 1969 to 1971.

Retired Gen. Jack Gregory, who commanded the center from 1981 to 1983, remembered Hansen as "a great supporter and a great gentleman. ... He was actively involved in what we had going on at the base."

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Hansen was a successful businessman in Las Vegas and was one of a long line of generals from Nellis "who became part of the community. He was one who made Nevada a better place."

Homer K. Hansen was born May 6, 1922, in St. Ansgar, Iowa, where he graduated from high school in 1939. Three years later, he married his hometown sweetheart, Helen Cummings, while serving in the Army Air Corps in San Antonio, Texas. They had three children.

The family moved 28 times in 28 years while Hansen's assignments took him around the world. He flew 14 different propeller fighter planes, fighter jets and attack aircraft.

After his 31-year Air Force career, he retired at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, as a major general then moved to Las Vegas and married Sarah "Sally" Jane Flowers McDermott in 1974.

He worked as a consultant for Northrup Aviation Co., and later served on the board of directors of a savings bank in Las Vegas. He also was elected president of CalFed bank in Nevada. After five years, he retired again and moved to St. George, Utah.

A service will be held 2 p.m. Wednesday at Bloomington Hill 8th Ward Chapel of the Mormon Church in St. George.

He is survived by his wife, Sally Hansen; son, Michael Hansen, of Las Vegas; daughter, Lynn Hansen, of Las Vegas; daughter Margie Mason, of Scottsdale, Ariz.; six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.