Daniel Hankens

Daniel Hankens, age 82 of Cherokee, IA, passed away Monday, August 21, 2023, at Careage Hills Care Center in Cherokee, IA.  A Celebration of Life Service will be held at 2:00 p.m. Monday, August 28, 2023, at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Cherokee, IA. Pastor Michael Agnew will officiate. Burial will be at a later date. There will be no visitation. The Greenwood-Schubert Funeral Home in Cherokee, IA is assisting the family with arrangements. Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.greenwoodfuneral.com.

Daniel Hankens was born in Cherokee, IA on June 2, 1941, to Don R. Hankens and Ivagene Dodd Hankens.  He attended Cherokee public schools and graduated from Washington High School in 1959.  During his senior year, he served as class president and president of Honor C Athletic Club.  He wore jersey #17 when he played defensive linebacker for the Cherokee Braves football team.  A major accomplishment in shop class was building an impressive wooden boat which he proudly used to teach family and friends the art of sailing.

Dan attended Drake University where he earned a degree in Business Administration with concentrated studies in Economics and Sociology. During his college years in Des Moines, IA, he worked for LOOK Magazine and Neilsen Greenhouses.  After graduating, Dan joined the Maher, Meloy, and Hankens Law Firm and worked as a farm manager and tax accountant for forty years, retiring in 2003.

Dan was very active in the Cherokee Jaycees Organization.  He served on the Sanford Museum Association Board and was a member of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church.

Dan prized family life with wife, Con (Connie Peterson) and sons, Tim and Matt.  Together they enjoyed camping, playing tennis and serious ping pong.  He absolutely loved water sports, especially boating, water skiing, and white-water rafting. 

Dan’s interests were diversely balanced.  Art and music appreciation blended with blaring football games on TV while TIME and POWERBOAT magazines were off set with cartoon books.  He had a sense of Halloween goofiness as he selected special Christmas gifts from thrift stores, like the cracked bowling ball named Sharon which he presented to a young nephew.

Everyday Dan appreciated good humor.  He was always friendly, yet humble and subscribed to his father’s favorite motto, “BE KIND.”

Dan passed away peacefully on August 21, 2023, at the age of 82, at Careage Hills Care Center in Cherokee, IA.  He was preceded in death by his parents, Don R. and Ivagene Hankens, and his brother, R. Steven Hankens.

Dan will be remembered by his loving wife, Connie, sons Tim of Cherokee and Matt of Osage Beach, MO; his sister Ann (Larry) Garberding of Sarasota, FL; four nephews and one niece.