How late Norwegian immigrant Wenke Hansen made DeKalb her home

DeKALB – Wenke Hansen – longtime former owner of the DeKalb staple Glidden Florist who had a knack for floral design, loved to travel and had a passion for her community – died Sept. 17. She was 98.

Hansen was married to Sven Otto Hansen, who died in 1999, and the couple had one son, Sven Oscar Hansen.

“She was just an elegant powerful businesswoman,” Sven Oscar Hansen said. “You know, like no nonsense but gregarious and friendly. She had no problem talking to anybody. She just made things happen. She instinctively knew how to run a business and got better and better at it. [She] had a lot of friends in town. She was part of the women’s organizations and part of the Chamber and did all these things for years. She was definitely a community person.”

In memory of Wenke Hansen, a celebration of life will be from 4 to 6 p.m. Friday at the Ellwood House Museum visitors center, 420 Linden Place, DeKalb.

Sven Oscar Hansen said he sees a lot of his late mother within himself.

“I have a lot of those good qualities, too, of being able to work with my hands and being organized, because I ran the business with her,” he said. “A lot of my nature is that way. I got a lot from her.”

Raised by a single mother in Norway, Henke immigrated to the U.S. in 1954 with her husband. Her father died during World War II after his ship was sunk by a German U-boat, according to her obituary. She worked at and later owned Glidden Florist on West Lincoln Highway near the Northern Illinois University campus from 1980 to 2010.

A highlight of Wenke Hansen’s life was her world travels. She’d often make summer trips back home to Norway to visit. For years, Wenke was known for keeping her florist shop stocked with flowers with a European flair upon her return from traveling abroad.

Downers Grove resident Sarah Glidden DeMink, whose family owns the Glidden Florist property, said Wenke Hansen enjoyed sports and being outdoors.

“She and her husband swam and were great Nordic skiers,” Glidden DeMink said. “They did downhill skiing also. They loved going to the mountains in the West and going camping out there. Her husband, Sven, had actually been in the Norwegian ski unit for the resistance during World War II in Norway. So, she talked many, many times about those memories [and] all she went through during World War II times.”

For Wenke Hansen, community was everything.

Glidden DeMink said Wenke Hansen always knew what was going on in the community.

“Wenke was loved by the community,” Glidden DeMink said. “People, when they would come into the shop, they would ask to talk to her because they knew that she was going to take good care of them and give them quality service, and she did. She was really known by so many people through her connections at the florist shop.”

Wenke has four grandchildren – Joachim Hansen, Sebastian Hansen, Camilla Soto and Alexander Hansen – and also is survived by three great-grandchildren, Maeva Petersen, Cassia Hansen and Diana Soto.