Yesterday I received word that my Great Uncle Jim had passed away after getting sick in the summer of 2000. A friend of my extend family wrote this about Uncle Jim:
James B. Hannah died this morning at the Veterans Hospital. He was in his mid-eighties and had been in declining health for some time. I was always particularly fond of Hannah, because he used to introduce me to people as his lawyer. “I like having a lawyer who looks like a lawyer,” he’d say. Whatever that meant. Never said anything about any skill I might bring to the discussion, however.
Hannah graduated from Harvard College and went into the Navy in World War II. The story was that his was the first American ship in Tokyo Bay at the end of the war. A sub-chaser, I think. He would have been a junior officer, but he was in command of that little ship. If he’d jumped off the boat and shot some wounded Japanese guy, I suppose he would have run for President.
I remember growing up going to his home in Hopkins. While visiting with him and my Great Aunt Bunny, I remember playing in his loft. His loft was filled with ship memorabilia and my mom reminded me that I was especially enamored with the ship’s bell when i was younger. You could always count on him to make you laugh. I’ll miss you Uncle Jim just as much as the rest of the Hannah and Swanson families will.
