Dorothy Elizabeth Hansen

Dorothy Elizabeth Hansen, daughter of Dorothy L. and Joseph L. Boltz, formerly of Lake Hopatcong, N.J; wife of 54 years of DuWayne H. Hansen, Copley Ohio; mother of Beth Ann Glaza, Fairport, NY; and grandmother of Emily and Allison Glaza of Bowling Green, OH, and Ithaca, NY, respectively-- died at Concordia at Sumner on Tuesday February 3. 2026, after a prolonged illness from Alzheimer’s Disease.

Dorothy was born in Elizabeth, N.J, on June 25, 1940. She grew up in Elizabeth spending summers at her parent’s summer homes on Lake Mohawk and Lake Hopatcong, NJ. As a teenager, she played a mean round of tennis and, in her formative years, was an all-around tomboy. She always said that she was her father’s “boy.” At the age of ten, she received a Lionel train set as a Christmas present from her parents. She began piano lessons at the age of seven and was playing organ for public events and church services by the time she was a teenager. She regularly played for the Sunday evening service at the Second Presbyterian Church in downtown Elizabeth, where she was actively involved in the youth program.

Dorothy, or “Dottie” as she preferred to be called, attended Battin High School, an all-girls public high school in Elizabeth, graduating in 1958. She was very active in all phases of the school’s music program, a member of the Battin Senate and the Advanced Advisory Council, a member of the National Honor’s Society and, in 1955 she won the DAR citizenship medal. She subsequently attended Bowling Green State University, graduating in 1962 with a degree in Music Education. For the next six years, Dottie taught elementary music in Michigan’s Riverview School District. However, she returned to Bowling Green State University in the summer of 1968 to complete her Master of Music degree. It was shortly thereafter that she met her future husband, DuWayne Hansen, who had recently joined the faculty of the BGSU Music Department.

DuWayne and Dottie were married at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Bowling Green on December 19, 1971. Their only daughter Beth Ann Hansen, was born in Bowling Green on March 24, 1973. Dorothy taught elementary music in the Findlay Public Schools for two years, before retiring to be a stay-at-home mom and a community volunteer.

Following DuWayne’s career path, the Hansen’s moved to Charleston, Illinois, in 1981 and in 1987 to Akron, Ohio, where Dottie was active in church and community groups as a participant and frequently as a treasurer or financial advisor. Dottie was an excellent cook, but preferred to garden and get down in the dirt. She also was a fine knitter and for years knitted prayer shawls with a group at Faith Lutheran Church. For most of their marriage, Dottie and DuWayne enjoyed “outings” together searching for antiques, paintings, studio glass, etc. Most importantly, Dottie loved her family and devoted herself to its welfare. She was a loving wife, mother, and grandmother as well as a friend to many.

Dottie will be missed terribly by her family and friends, but the suffering and degradation of Alzheimer’s can no longer claim victory over her. May God richly bless her memory, the memory of a good and righteous woman who always was honest and did her very best!

Funeral service 11 A.M. MONDAY February 9th, 2026 at Faith Lutheran Church, 2726 West Market Street, Fairlawn, OH 44333. All are invited to Visitation in the Church’s Welcoming Room beginning one hour prior to the funeral. Memorials may be made to the Tuesday Musical Association, Akron Symphony Orchestra, Faith Lutheran Church, or Concordia at Sumner, Copley, OH. Dottie will be laid to rest at Oak Grove Cemetery on the campus of Bowling Green State University in a private committal ceremony. 

Services in care of The Billow Funeral Homes & Crematory, 85 N. Miller Road Akron, OH 44333 (Billow FAIRLAWN Chapel).