Verle Elizabeth (Smith) Hanson

Dec 14, 1917 - Feb 28, 2011

Verle Elizabeth Hanson at the wise old age of 93, was a woman of incredible candor, character, and curiosity; born in Chicago, Illinois, on December 14, 1917, and raised in the Midwest, Verle moved to Tucson, Arizona, in 1945 with her husband, Frank Febbo. The two opened, owned and operated the Five Points Cafe, an Italian-American diner that closed not long after the 1-10 freeway diverted the major through-town traffic away from south Sixth Avenue where the business was located. Having begun studying the Bible with Jehovah's Witnesses in 1942, she was baptized in 1948 and lived her life with the utmost respect for the divine law of love. A voracious reader, she pursued every question that came to mind. She was a gifted writer and an extremely independent woman.

Once, she was the attempted "victim" of a store robbery at the El Rancho Supermarket where she worked; when she repeatedly replied that the money was not hers to give to the perpetrator, he finally gave up and fled the scene. Verle snared her love for Jehovah with all who cared to listen, and there are many who can testify to having been made better men and women for having known her. She faced every adversity with the dignity of non-complaint, projecting positivity with the intent of encouraging others. Verle loved the outdoors, poetry, music, fishing, bowling, dancing, cream pies, Red Baron frozen pizza, Pepsi in the half-size can, dry humor, and Mickey's Malt Liquor. When once we knew that you had gone, We stood sullen like children who have Only first seen death.

"We felt the cold Of those Midwestern mornings that You had known in the Great Depression. We looked out on the creosote and Saguaros that lured you here to us. We were at once transfixed by your Beauty and transformed by your Memory. Tears in the creases of smiles, We wondered if we had loved you as we Should have, and found comfort in your Gracious example of loving as perfectly As any imperfect human can love" written by: Mark Anthony Febbo

Verle has been preceded in death by her son, Gary Febbo and her brother, Rex Smith as well as her husbands, Frank Febbo and Walt Hanson.

She is survived by her sons, Frank Rex Febbo and Mark Lewis Febbo; her son's spouses, Lucille Febbo and Janet Leonides Febbo; her grandchildren, Frank Houston Febbo, Robert Febbo, Thomas Dominic (Nicky) Febbo, Mark Anthony Febbo and Angela Marie Febbo and her great-grandson, Frank Robert Febbo.

Memorial Services will be held on Saturday, March 5, 2011 at 2:00 p.m., at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses, 5462 S. 6th Ave.

Arizona Daily Star·Tucson, AZ, 03 Mar 2011

Sources: Ancestry.com, Newspapers.com and FindAGrave.com

10/05/2026 EJS

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/195972954/verle-elizabeth-hanson