This page dedicated to Hannon/Hannan (Ó hAnnáin) descendents - who strived to help their fellow man. In doing so, some lost their own lives.
We honor their commitment to humanity, and their sacrifice. They remain with us forevermore......
Lenn Lamar Hannon, Age 66
Born in Roseburg, Oregon on July 4, 1943
Died April 1, 2010 in Ashland, Oregon
Lenn was the son of Leonard and Irene Hannon and having been born on the 4th Of July, Lenn chose to dedicate 30 years of his life to public service in the Oregon State Senate. He was known as the "Education Senator", and someone once remarked that "Lenn is an honorable man who fights tough, but fights fair". Originally elected as a 'Democrat', Lenn later changed his party affiliation to 'Republican'.
Perhaps his greatest political achievement was in bringing together both private and public funding sources for a new library on the Southern Oregon University campus. The old library was in dire need of updating, and this gave Lenn a challenge he gladly took on. Spearheading the funding efforts he raised $230 Million dollars for a new library. In gratitude for his efforts, the university administration named the new library "Lenn and Dixie Hannon Library", and you will find it located on the campus of Southern Oregon University.
Lenn as a member of Clann Ó hAnnáin-O'Hannon back in 2008 chose to join the Hannon/Hannan Irish Surname DNA Project. His DNA contribution has helped us to better understand the male Y-DNA lineages of our members. Because of his commitment to his community and to his Irish ancestry, Clan Hannon sees fit to honor him on this webpage.
Lenn leaves behind his wife of 44 years, Dixie, as well as his son Patrick Hannon, and his four daughters - Michelle Pope, Rebecca Hannon-Buck, Rachel Stapleton and Kathleen Korth.
Special thanks to the Oregonian and the Statesman Journal for their background information in this tribute.
Col. William J. Hannan USMC (ret.) , Age 89
Born in Poughkeepsie New York, April 15, 1918
Died April 21, 2007 in Redding, Connecticut
William was the son of William A and Mary Manning Hannan, graduating from Xavier High School in New York City in 1936 and Notre Dame University in 1940.
He subsequently joined the United States Marine Corps Reserve and in 1941 he graduated the first Officer’s Candidate Class in Quantico Virginia and was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant. He was assigned to the First Marine Division and participated in combat operations in the Solomon Islands. He later participated in the landing and securing of Peliliu where he commanded both artillery and an infantry battalion. After being seriously wounded, he finished his war time service at the Brooklyn Navy Yard Hospital at the rank of Major.
After his recovery he attended and graduated Cum Laude from New York Law School in 1950. During his long legal career he was a senior partner in several New York City law firms including Kanner, Hannan & Newman; was an attorney for the International Longshoreman’s Association and the National Maritime Union; and later was Director of Labor Relations for the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company.
In 1963 he was admitted to argue before the Supreme Court of the United States. In 1973, he became Director of Labor Relations at the University of Pittsburgh and also lectured in their Law School. His long career on both sides of labor issues supported his work arbitrating labor disputes throughout the Eastern United States beginning in the 1970’s until his retirement in 1996 as a member of the National Arbitration Association.
He maintained his membership in the Marine Corps Reserve and was Commanding Officer of the Marine unit at Fort Schyler, New York from 1962 to 1967. He retired from the Marine Corp with the rank of Colonel in 1978 after 38 years of service.
William was predeceased by his first wife (of fifty years) and mother of his ten children Margaret (Moroney) Hannan; his second wife (of twelve years) Pauline (Meeks Diesing) Hannan; one brother, Edward; two sisters Mary McGowan Switzer and Jane Mooney and one grandchild Denis Cahill.
Special thanks to his grandson, Michael Cooney, for assistance in this tribute
Carl F. Hannon, Age 68
Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Aug. 3, 1937
Died March 6, 2006 in Waterville, Maine
Carl was one of the first members of Clann Ó hAnnáin - O'Hannon, back in the year 2002. His interest in his own genealogy as well as that of the Hannon clan made him an interesting person to correspond with in discussing the origins of our clan members.
His primary interest was in helping the veterans of WWII. He co-founded a website called War Horse that was dedicated to veterans of the US Air Force of WWII, and he helped encourage the creation of a website that honored the veterans of the Belgian Underground Movement that fought the Nazis.
He brought relatives together, found the final resting places for loved ones who died in combat, located state and federal records to verify pension rights for people in desperate need, located financial aid and other benefits for veterans down on their luck, got help for drug and alcohol abusers, and so much more. He will be truly missed by many, including his wife Ann - and his extended family in Clann Ó hAnnáin - O'Hannon.
Special thanks to the Belgian Underground Movement website for help in this tribute
Father John Hannon, SMA, Age 65
Born in Killulla, Newmarket-on-Fergus, Co Clare, Ireland
Died Nov. 24, 2004 in Matasia near Nairobi, Kenya
With deep regret the Society of African Missions, Irish Province, announces the tragic death of Father John Hannon SMA. Father Hannon is reported to have died as result of a robbery at his parish house at Matasia, Ngong Diocese, about 25 km from Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.
Bishop Cornelius Schilder of Ngong stated: "A gang of 20 people broke into Father Hannon's house after tying up the watchman. Apparently the gang engaged Father Hannon in a struggle and he attempted to escape. They may have followed him from the house into the front of an unfinished Social Hall in the church compound, where his mutilated body was found in the early hours of the morning."
Fr Hannon came from Killulla, Newmarket-on-Fergus, Co Clare where he was born on 24 April 1939. He was ordained priest on 18 December 1967. From 1968 until 1993 he ministered in the Archdiocese of Lagos, Nigeria where he earned a reputation for opening and developing parish centres in the growing suburbs of the city.
Father Hannon had been in Kenya since 1994 and was based in Matasia in the diocese of Ngong for the past four years. He worked previously at St Monica’s Parish, Kitengela (also in Ngong Diocese) and at St Joseph’s Parish, Jericho in the Archdiocese of Nairobi.
Fr Hannon was an earnest helper of the less well-off. The building of centres for non-formal education and skills training was a constant feature of Fr Hannon’s missionary apostolate.
He was in the process of completing a Parish Hall at Matasia and had initiated a €14,000 project to equip the hall as a Training Centre. He had a long and proven record in the building of centres for training and education of young people in practical skills. His work in recent times was among the Maasai people. Fr John saw the need for skills training of young women in areas like domestic economy, secretarial work, hair dressing, sewing and knitting as crucial for their dignity and livelihood.
The Irish Government was represented at the funeral by Mr Joseph O'Brien, Honorary Consul. Representatives of Concern and Trócaire also attended.
10 members of Fr. Hannon's family travelled from Ireland to Kenya for the funeral.
Press Release - Society of African Missions, SMA
PFC. Fernando Hannon, USMC, Age 19
Son of Spurgeon Hannon, a Viet Nam Veteran
Died August 15, 2004, Anbar Province, Iraq
"LOS ANGELES — A Camp Pendleton Marine whose father’s service in the Vietnam War inspired him to join the military has died in Iraq.
Pfc. Fernando B. Hannon, 19, died Aug. 15 in an explosion in the country’s volatile Anbar province. Hannon, a rifleman deployed about two months in Iraq, had been assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force.
Hannon had a younger brother and three older sisters and was described by his family as warm and affectionate.
“He just glowed,” his sister Sonya Hannon told the Los Angeles Times.
His fiance, Ruth Ponce, 21, remembered him as unassuming and earnest. She was so taken with him at John Marshall High School in Los Angeles that she asked him to the prom during their senior year.
'He would laugh with his whole spirit,' Ponce said. 'I’m just glad we found each other.'
Hannon enlisted in the Marines while living in Riverside County’s Wildomar section before his family moved to Mojave.
His sister Sonya Hannon said that while he may have not decided yet on a career, he joined the military because he wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father, Spurgeon Hannon, a Vietnam veteran.
---Associated Press
Dana Hannon, Age 29
Engaged to be married
Died September 11, 2001 WTC Tower One
"On a trip to Australia in July 2001, while his sister, Kyle Hannon, and two friends watched, he (Dana Hannon) proposed to Allison Dansen, his girlfriend of five years,
atop the Sydney Harbor Bridge.
Hannon, of Suffern (NY), was 'handsome, funny, caring, protective, compassionate and handy. He could fix anything,' his sister said. He also was an avid camper,
hunter and fisherman. 'You name it, he did it. Put him in camouflage, and he was happy,' she said.
He was brave too. When Hannon worked for the Bridgeport (Conn.) Fire Department, he and a fellow firefighter forced their way into an apartment engulfed in flames to find and rescue an unconscious woman. For that, he was
awarded the Medal of Valor, Bridgeport's second-highest award."
---NewsDay (New York newspaper), Sept. 26, 2001
Michael Hannan, Age 34
Married to Andrea, Father to Rachel and Alexandra
Died September 11, 2001, WTC
"Friends, co-workers and the woman who became his wife were all irresistibly drawn to Michael Hannan by the same qualities. They all remember a man who knew how to put people at ease and to make them laugh a lot. He was the catalyst for new friendships between the various people in his life. "Michael was the tree trunk and his friends were the branches," said Chuck Abar, a neighbor and close friend.
Mr. Hannan, 34, was an assistant vice president at Marsh & McLennan. His supervisor, Noreen Laplaski, recalled how he fostered camaraderie through his presence and his passionate involvement in a variety of corporate athletics..."He had so much potential, he would have really gone places in the company if he had lived," Ms. Laplaski said.
At the heart of it was his determination to find a solution to every problem. "If he came up against a wall, he would climb over it, crash through it or go under it," Ms. Laplaski said. "He wouldn't let it stop him. He was like a younger brother to me."
Friends and co-workers agree on one more thing. That what sustained Michael Hannan was his wife, Andrea, and two young daughters, Rachel, 5, and Alexandra, 22 months. "What drove Mike was how much he loved Andrea and the girls," Mr. Abar said. "
---Copyright 2001, The New York Times Co.
Lance Corporal Patrick Joseph Hannon USMC, Age 20
Born in Littleton Colorado, August 3, 1946
Died September 4, 1966 in So. Viet Nam
Patrick was born immediately following World War II at a time when the world had paid a heavy price to stop the spread of socialist fascism. Those who loved "Freedom" found out that socialist fascism was soon replaced by marxist communism that had even less respect for humanity. The "Iron Curtain" kept the people of eastern Europe and East Berlin separated from those who loved Freedom. In Asia, the "Bamboo Curtain" under the Communist Chinese kept No. Korea, No. Viet Nam, Laos, Cambodia and Tibet under the thumb of Beijing.
As a member of I company, 3rd battalion, 9th Marine Regiment of the 3rd Marine Division - he found himself stationed near Da Nang in So. Viet Nam. His area was Marble Mountain and long a stronghold for the Viet Cong (Doc Lap battalion) dating back to the French war. Assisted by loyal Vietnamese Regional Forces (RFPF), the Marines fought a Viet Cong R-20 battalion at Thu Bon River in the An Hoa Valley. From Sept. 3rd through the 4th, a platoon of I company fought a Viet Cong company; and it was there that Patrick Hannon died. He was survived by his twin brother Michael, sister Carol and father John.
Earlier Patrick had written a simple poem and sent it home to his family: "It is not a good feeling to have to kill, but when your country's in need you know you will. We've been in VietNam for several months now and we're hardly ready to take our bow. We've seen some fellow Marines go down but I'm sure each one is heaven bound. If my time is here to be, I ask a favor from you to me. Answer my one and only plea... Keep America Free."
In tribute to Patrick Joseph Hannon, the VFW veterans of Post #4666 named their post after him.
Special thanks to VFW Pat Hannon Post #4666: Michael Juoni-Quartermaster for assistance in this tribute.
