Services at St. Paul’s, Wednesday, October 28, 11 a.m. 

Elmer was born in Davenport, Iowa, on March 11, 1918, the second of five children of Fred C.E. and Carrie Hansen. His father was a Lutheran minister and his mother was a school teacher. The family moved around the Midwest to the various churches where the Rev. Hansen served as pastor. Elmer was a basketball player and cross country runner at Milwaukee’s Riverside High School, from which he graduated in 1936. After working at various jobs he studied at Dana College in Blair, Neb., before joining the Army Air Corps during World War II. He served in the Air Corps as a B-17 pilot and pilot instructor, which lead to a lifelong interest in aviation.

Elmer and his first wife, Evelyn, whom he met in Council Bluffs, Iowa, moved to Southern California in 1958 with their daughter Kathleen. He became an agent for   Allstate Insurance, a company he would remain with for 38 years.

The family eventually settled in Santa Monica and became members of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church. Following Elmer’s retirement, he and Evelyn moved to Solvang. Alzheimer’s disease claimed Evelyn’s life in December 1993.

Elmer and Charlotte Bayer renewed acquaintances when he was in Santa Monica to attend a Sunday service at St. Paul’s in early 1996. They began meeting for lunch dates in Ventura — the midway point between their respective homes in Solvang and Santa Monica. They were married at St. Paul’s on Dec. 7, 1996.

During the next 12½ years they spent weeks at a time living at Charlotte’s longtime home in Santa Monica Canyon, then drove up to Solvang for lengthy stays at Elmer’s condominium there. They enjoyed the camaraderie of a wide circle of family and friends in both communities and worshiped regularly at both St. Paul’s and at Bethania Lutheran Church in Solvang. They traveled often, including trips to Scandinavia, Canada, New England, the Midwest and the Northwest in addition to touring California extensively.

Elmer was hospitalized after a fall in June and his health began to steadily decline. He passed away Oct. 13 at St. John’s Health Center in Santa Monica at the age of 91.

He is survived by his wife Charlotte, daughter Kathleen Quigg of Paso Robles, three grandchildren, four great-grandchildren, his sisters Rhoda Daggett of Wisconsin and Deloris Bengtson of Illinois, and numerous nephews, nieces and step-relatives. 

In addition to today’s memorial service at St. Paul’s, a graveside service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at Solvang Cemetery, where he will be buried next to Evelyn. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that you make a donation to St. Paul’s, the Alzheimer’s Association or the charity of your choice.