Barbara Louise (Weeks) Hansen

Barbara Louise (Weeks) Hansen was born to Charles Franklin and Mary Weeks in New York City on July 10th, 1933. Barbara was the second of 6 children born to Charles and Mary, preceded by Geraldine, who passed away aged 3, leaving Barbara as the oldest of the Weeks children. The Weeks family moved several times, living in Indiana, Texas, and New Jersey before finding their home in Kingston, NY.

Barbara played basketball for and graduated from Lodi High School, NJ in 1951. After graduation she attended University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing in Philadelphia, receiving a Registered Nurse (RN) diploma in 1954. Barbara worked at Sloan-Kettering Hospital in New York City before moving to Cody, Wyoming. Barbara was enamored with the west having grown up listening to radio broadcasts and visiting movie theaters to catch the latest western film.

After 2 years in Wyoming, Barbara came back to Kingston and decided to join the Navy in 1962, going to Officer Training School at Newport, RI. She was assigned to work at US Navy Hospital, St Albans, New York City, where a patient introduced her to Chief Petty Officer Frank Hansen. Barbara and Frank were married in May 1963 in London, England thanks to a Navy assignment for Frank. They returned to the States in 1966 with a two-year-old daughter and an English Sheltie, Ch Cloudy Isle Glad All Over, affectionately named “Lucy.” Lucy became Barbara and Frank’s foundation dog for their hobby kennel, Kidwelly Shelties. They settled outside of Washington, D.C. and moved to Brandywine, MD in 1967, where their daughters Cindy and Kathy grew up and Kidwelly Shelties thrived with multiple Champions, including Ch Kidwelly Two for the Show, Ch Kidwelly Jonquil, Ch Kidwelly Marigold, Ch Kidwelly Primrose. Frank passed away very unexpectedly in 1981, leaving the family devastated.

Barbara continued her nursing career working in several different doctors’ offices and in the Maryland state system, retiring in 1995. She sold the family home in Brandywine in 1999, moving to Laurel, MD and then to Lexington Park, MD in 2005 to join Cindy and her husband, Ernie, and her granddaughters, Jenny and Lindsey. Barbara relocated to Guyton, GA in 2014 with Cindy’s family. Upon moving to Guyton, the Pooler Senior Center was always the highlight of her week. She thoroughly enjoyed the camaraderie and friendship, all the trips and excursions and the various parties, bingo games, thrift store items and painting lessons.

Barbara thoroughly enjoyed her retirement, especially travel! She traveled with sister, Virginia (Ginny) and niece Diane Robinson, including trips to Iceland, Russia, Germany, Scotland, Prague, and Budapest. She was able to visit Portugal, Germany and Hawaii with Cindy’s family, and even made a solo trip to Spain! Barbara made multiple cross-country trips with Diane and Ginny, and more trips with Cindy’s family, too.

Barbara is survived by her daughter, Cynthia (Hansen) Tavares and her husband Ernest Tavares of Guyton, GA, and daughter Kathleen Hansen of St. Louis, MO, and her granddaughters Jennifer (Tavares) Hudnall (husband, Mason Hudnall) of Lubbock, TX, and Lindsey (Tavares) Young (husband Evan Young and sons, James and Robert) of Abilene, TX.

Barbara is also survived by her sister Virginia (Weeks) Robinson of Saugerties NY and brother Arden Weeks (wife Jan) of Lake Lucerne, New York and was predeceased by her husband, Frank, sisters Geraldine Weeks, Caroline (Weeks) George and Sandy Weeks.

The family will receive friends on Saturday, April 4, 2026 from 12 noon until 2 p.m. at the funeral home.

Thomas C. Strickland & Sons Funeral Homes – WEST CHATHAM CHAPEL – 901 West Highway 80 – Pooler, Georgia (912) 748-2444