Clara Louise (Boesiger) Hansen

Clara Louise Boesiger Hansen, 95, died February 16, 2025, at a care facility in Boise.

She was born August 15, 1929, on her parent’s farm in north Shoshone, Idaho, the last of six children of Adolph and Hermina Boesiger. She was the last born and the last to die of the 12 first generation Americans of two brothers and their wives who immigrated from Switzerland in the early 1900’s to nearby farms in north Shoshone.

Clara attended a rural grade school in north Shoshone and attended Shoshone High School.

She married her high school sweetheart Dorrell Hansen Jr. in 1947, a marriage that lasted 73 years until Dorrell’s death in 2021.

After their wedding they started moving around and having a family; the first 4 children were born within 30 miles of Shoshone, and the last one was born in Bakersfield, California, where Dorrell had transferred with United Airlines.

 From Bakerfield the family moved to Ohio, then to Modesto, California. After the children were far enough along in school Clara graduated from Modesto Junior College and then started working outside the home and worked several different jobs before becoming a Resource Room Aid at Modesto High School.

After retiring in 1980, they moved back to Idaho to an acreage between Shoshone and Gooding. There they built their own home with help from friends and family and converted the 20 acres of sagebrush into a desert oasis that had animals, flower gardens and endless adventures for their grandchildren and great grandchildren.

 Clara’s passions included her multiple flower gardens during the summer and embroidering and quilting during the winter. Clara made quilts for each of her family members and sold many others.

She also found time to travel to Switzerland on three different occasions, enabling her to meet many of her relatives that she had only heard about from her parents. In 2003 they moved out the farm into Gooding. There they were active at St. Elizabeth’s Catholic Church, and she continued to tend to her much smaller gardens and to quilt.

In 2016 they moved to Boise to be closer to their children. After Dorrell’s death in 2021, Clara moved to her daughter Teresa’s in Middleton. Teresa and her husband Daryl cared for Clara for nearly 4 years until she moved to a care facility in Boise.

Clara was preceded in death by her husband, her parents, three brothers, two sisters, one half-brother, a son Randy, a daughter Lucille and a great grandson Trenton.

She is survived by two daughters, Teresa (Daryl) Schoolcraft of Middleton, Darlene (Dale) Clemens of Modesto, one son Dorrell III (Kay) of Boise, son-in-law Thilo Bendix of Sonora, CA, 9 grandchildren, 19 great- grandchildren, 5 great-great-grandchildren.

     A graveside service will be held on Friday, February 21, 2025 at 11:00 am at the Shoshone Cemetery. 

     A celebration of life will follow at the Shoshone Community Center immediately following the graveside.  

     Funeral services are under the care and direction of Demaray Funeral Service – Gooding Chapel.

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