She knitted hats to keep babies warm

Lois C. Hansen participated in a little known volunteer role at Northwest Community Hospital: she served on the baby hat committee, knitting caps for newborns at the Arlington Heights hospital.

Mrs. Hansen was among a large contingent of women who work from a pattern to knit the hats, which are placed on babies' heads nearly as soon as they are born, to help retain their body heat.

Typically, the babies go home wearing their caps, but most families never meet the women who create them.

"Approximately 300 babies a month are born here, so all of their contributions are very welcome, and needed," says Mary Jo Dailey, volunteer services director.

Hospital records indicate that over a 12 year period, Mrs. Hansen logged nearly 950 hours volunteering for the hospital, all of those spent knitting.

"She made literally hundreds of baby hats that were provided to our newborns," Dailey adds.

Family members concur, adding that Mrs. Hansen also knit sweaters for the children of migrant workers in Florida, and prayer shawls for a ministry at First Presbyterian Church in Arlington Heights.

"She'd knit in front of the television, in the car during their drive down to Florida," says her daughter, Corinne Peterson of Arlington Heights. "Anytime she was sitting, her hands were always busy."

Mrs. Hansen passed away April 29. The former 37-year resident of Buffalo Grove was 89.

Her needlework remains part of her legacy. Each of her grandchildren received an afghan when they turned 21, and she has set aside a set of booties and baby caps for them, when they have children.

Family members say her interest in needlework was an extension of her artistic talents. Growing up in Chicago, Mrs. Hansen loved to draw, and she finally found time to take art lessons when her two children were in school.

She began painting in oil, but soon branched out to try working in acrylics and pastels.

"One of her favorite things was to go into the woods and sketch," her daughter says. "She sketched whatever she saw, whatever interested her."

Her work ranged from still life pieces to landscapes and architectural drawings. Some of her most popular pieces, sold at local art fairs, were of animals that she sketched at the zoo.

Mrs. Hansen hadn't painted in a long time, family members say, but her framed work fills their homes.

"That's what she loved most," Peterson says, "giving her work away."

Besides her daughter, Mrs. Hansen is survived by her husband of 65 years, Warren, and her son, Thomas (Carol) of Crystal Lake, as well as six grandchildren.

A funeral service will take place at 10 a.m. today at the First Presbyterian Church, 302 N. Dunton Ave. in Arlington Heights.