Charles & Beverly Hansell

“Everything I know, I know because of love.”

― Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace

Charles Richardson Hansell, 93, beloved husband, father, grandfather, uncle, and friend, passed away peacefully on October 27 at Jefferson Bucks Hospital. Beverly Jean Hansell, 86, cherished wife, mother, grandmother, aunt, and friend passed away peacefully three days later, on October 30, at Jefferson Torresdale Hospital. Beverly and Charles were happily married for 62 years.

Although their childhoods were nearly opposite and their young adulthoods just as dissimilar, Charles and Beverly found each other at Temple University where both were majoring in education. Beverly would recall how she would notice Charles sleeping soundly during class. Charles would remember Beverly’s sharp elbow as she would nudge him awake.

After graduation, they married in 1960 and settled in Levittown where they raised their two children Geoffrey and Pamela. As an active volunteer with the Silver Lake Nature Center, Beverly’s children developed of love and respect for nature and the outdoors. The Nature Center often felt like a second home where the walls were trees, and the ceiling was sky.

As her children grew older Beverly found her calling as a librarian at the Bucks County Free Library, first as a reference librarian then as children’s librarian where she experienced so much joy planning her story hours, reading, crafts, more reading, writing stories and poems, and inspiring a love of books and the written word to new generations. Mom hosted story hour events such as “bring in your pet day” which went as well, and not so well, as one might expect. Retelling the events of her story hours were fun, funny, and joyful to hear. Passing along her love of books and reading to her children, her story hour children, and then to her grandchildren brought Beverly so much happiness.

Beverly was a natural storyteller and as a member of the Garden State Storytellers League appeared at numerous events with her lovely, kindred, storyteller’s group. Always searching for new opportunities to learn and grow, Beverly began studying Kabbalah. Through her years of study, she gained insight and inspiration and found her soulmates.

Charles was a gentleman of the first order. He never had the easiest path, yet still succeeded. After returning from fighting with the 2^nd Infantry Division in the Korean War, he began working full-time and going to Temple full-time. It was after graduation that he found his passion and true calling in the classroom, as a teacher and principal, for children who needed someone like Charles in their lives. He was a humble man who always gave credit to his students for their achievements and felt immense pride in the students he taught. Above all else in his career, his time spent as Principal of Columbia School in Philadelphia was his most rewarding. Whenever Charles would talk about his days at Columbia it was easy to see how students and staff made this experience rewarding to him in the truest sense of the word. On Saturday mornings, Charles would take his children on the train to his school where dad would work and where Geoffrey and Pamela roamed the beautiful old brownstone to explore classrooms, see fire escapes (very exciting for suburban kids), and spend time in the seemingly endless library filled with more books than it seemed most public libraries contained. Then they would head to Rittenhouse Square where they would feed the pigeons and where his son would develop a lifelong aversion to birds flapping anywhere within a five-mile radius of wherever he happened to be.

Charles and Beverly loved the Phillies and took their children to Cooperstown, N.Y. in 1994 to see Steve Carlton be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, and again in 1995 to see Mike Schmidt and our beloved Richie Ashburn enter the Hall.

Mom and dad were never much for advice giving, preferring to allow their children free range to make every mistake pretty much in the book and yet living to tell the tales. Although when they did offer advice, it was taken very seriously by their children and will never be forgotten. “Never turn your back on a wave or on a grilled cheese sandwich,” was mom’s advice that went on to save lives and burnt sandwiches. The advice dad had for us was “When you see a fork in the road, take it.” (By way of Yogi Berra)

Beverly and Charles were exceptionally proud of their three grandchildren, Christopher, Nicholas, and Lindsay. Watching mom and dad with their grandchildren will be a memory never forgotten, and always treasured.

A memorial service will be held to honor the lives of Charles and Beverly on Tuesday, November 15, at Christ United Methodist Church, 501 Wistar Road, Fairless Hills. Viewing will begin at 10:00 a.m. and the funeral service will begin at 11:00 a.m. Interment will be held at 1:00 p.m. at Washington Crossing National Cemetery.