Waited almost 100 years for a Cubs championship

Ethel O. Hanson of Barrington waited nearly 100 years to see her Chicago Cubs win the World Series. Literally.

Mrs. Hanson was born Nov. 24, 1907, on the eve of the year the Cubs would win it all.

One hundred years later, after watching the Cubs bow out quietly after last season's National League divisional playoffs, she stayed true to her team.

But for her, there will be no more waiting for next year. The 53-year resident of Barrington passed away Sunday.

For her 100th birthday, the only thing she wanted, friends say, was a Cubs blanket, which she received.

"She was a lifelong Cubs fan," says her grandniece Joanne Cihlar of Woodridge, "a real die-hard."

Despite her disappointment in her beloved Cubs, Mrs. Hanson was in good spirits on her 100th birthday, laughing and joking with friends who visited her, though she was recuperating from a broken leg.

"She was a very vibrant lady," says the Rev. Zina Jacque, pastor of her church, the Community Church of Barrington. "Only a few weeks before she fell, she was a regular at church.

"If nobody else would sing and clap," Jacque added, "I knew I could count on Ethel to do that."

Her grandniece attributed Mrs. Hanson's long life to her healthy lifestyle, one in which she enjoyed active pursuits --- including raising show dogs, fishing and swimming at the Buehler YMCA in Palatine -- and watched what she ate.

Mrs. Hanson was born near Pittsburgh but moved as a child with her family to Chicago. As a young woman, she worked as a secretary in Chicago. It was while working that she met her future husband, Thomas Hanson, whom she would marry in 1930.

The couple moved to Barrington in 1954, to be closer to Mr. Hanson's job as an editor with Technical Publishing Co. in Barrington, where he worked with copy for the trade publication, "Plant Engineering" magazine.

The couple raised African Basenji dogs, which they entered in shows and also bred. Vacations they spent fishing, including going on charter trips and even fishing in the Arctic Circle, family members say.

"We used to go with them sometimes, up to Loon Lake Lodge in Canada," Cihlar says of the summer trips taken with her great-aunt, uncle, and sister, Paula Boll, now of Joliet. "We'd fish all day, and then hear the loons on the lake at night."

After Mr. Hanson died in 1979, Mrs. Hanson became more involved in the Barrington Area Historical Society, where she volunteered as a docent and helped manage the society's gift shop, as well as taking oral histories of longtime families.

"She was a true gem," says Michael Harkins, volunteer president. "She was very dedicated to preserving local history and promoting it through education."

Besides her two grandnieces, Mrs. Hanson is survived by her nieces Diane (Everett) Hill, Yvonne (Jerry) Adam and Lea Over.

Services have been held.