John S. Hanks, 85

Maplewood/St. Paul – John Stanley Hanks, age 85, died peacefully at home from non-alcoholic liver cirrhosis on Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022. He has been cremated. No services will be held.

John was born April 4, 1936 in Winnebago. During his high school years at Winnebago High School John was active in 4H and FFA. He enjoyed basketball and baseball, and played as pitcher for an undefeated 4H softball team 1953-54 with his second baseman brother Gene. John graduated in 1954 and went on to study Transportation and Traffic Management in Minneapolis, as well as Maintenance of Commercial Vehicles in Wahpeton, North Dakota.

From 1959 to 1961 John served in the U S Army at Ft. Hood, Texas, where he was dispatcher of 115 battalion support truck/trailers.

John spent over 60 years in the truck transportation industry. For over 20 years he worked in various truck shop supervisory capacities. This was followed by over 30 years in the insurance service side of the transportation industry beginning with Progressive Insurance as a nationwide Heavy Equipment Field Specialist. He then spent over 25 years with GAB Robins/Cunningham Lindsey/Sedgwick. For GAB he first served as Heavy Equipment Specialist and moved on to Regional and National Truck and Heavy Equipment Product Manager as well as Instructor for GAB’s Truck and Heavy Equipment School. After he “retired” from GAB in 2001 he continued on as a 5-state Heavy Equipment Field Specialist for GAB as GAB evolved into Cunningham Lindsey and finally Sedgwick. John retired from Sedgwick in 2020 at the age of 84.

Throughout his entire life, John loved all things mechanical, especially his Corvettes and the friends he made and the travels he took with the Fast Glass, Suburban and Classic Corvette Clubs.

John’s final 10 months were spent in his own home under the auspices of HealthPartners Hospice. Special thanks to Dr. Miguel Ruiz Diaz and his dedicated teams of caregivers who made it possible for John to have a high quality of life while remaining in his beloved home with his wife Pam through the end of his days. Special thanks also to everyone who called, texted and emailed during those final months. We are eternally grateful to Tim Johnson for his regular visits and his extra efforts to give John a trip to John’s family reunion and to provide John with his final Corvette rides.

John was the consummate handyman, always cheerfully repairing that which was broken. Sadly for us he cannot repair the broken hearts of those he left behind.

John was preceded in death by his only sibling, Gene Arthur Hanks, and his parents, John Stanley (aka Stanley or Spec) and Margaret Hanks of Winnebago. He is survived by his wife, Pam of Maplewood; his son, Michael (Sally) Hanks and their extended family, of Amery, Wisconsin; grandson, Trevor Hanks, of Clear Lake, Wisconsin; nephew, Jeffrey (Shawna) Hanks and their sons, Noah and Christian, of Bemidji; and niece, Heidi (Luis) Candelas-Hanks, of Seattle, Washington.