Atty. Arthur J. Hansmann

Arthur J. Hansmann, 87, of Wind Point died peacefully on Saturday, April 16, 2011, surrounded by his loving family at Wheaton Franciscan Hospital in Racine, WI.

Art was born May 8, 1923, in Stevens Point, WI, to Killian John and Susan (Krieg) Hansman. After graduation from high school there, he served in the First Guided Missile Battalion, U.S. Army, from 1944-1946. Art worked his way through school at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and, in the span of six years, completed a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and a J.D. in Law. He then earned a Master of Patent Law at the John Marshall Law School in Chicago, Illinois.

In the summer of 1946, Art met Dorothy Duroux at a dance in the Great Hall of the UW Memorial Union, just prior to Dorothy’s departure to teach at Vassar College in New York. The following week, friends brought them together at a dinner, which sparked a two-year correspondence by mail and eventual engagement. They were married on April 17, 1948, at Holy Trinity Church in Poughkeepsie, NY.

In 1953 Art moved his young family to Racine, WI, to open a law practice as a patent and trademark attorney in the then very invention-active city. It was the first private patent law practice to open in southeastern Wisconsin. He was a Member Emeritus of the State Bar of Wisconsin and continued to practice law until this year.

In high school Art had excelled in baseball and basketball and coached the basketball team at St. Patrick’s School in Racine when his son attended there. He later took up tennis and in the late 1950s built a tennis court at his home from clay excavated during construction of the Racine lakefront YMCA, encouraging young tennis players in Racine to use the court for practice. Art and his son, Doug, also played state competition doubles tournaments.

Art and Dorothy earned international teacher certification from the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance in London in 1986, Art having achieved Fellow status, the highest degree awarded. Together they shared their enthusiasm for ballroom and Latin dance by teaching and sponsoring dance clubs in Racine and Milwaukee for over 40 years. They were also regularly asked to serve as judges in U.S. championship dance competitions. Art was the author of a book titled, “Ballroom and Latin Dancing for Today,” published in 2007.

Art is survived by his devoted wife, Dorothy; his three loving children, Suzanne Duroux (Barry Stoner) of Seattle, WA, Doug (Denise Thornton) of Madison, WI, and Alice (Michael) Williams of Houston, TX; and six grandchildren, Caroline Stoner, Della and KJ Hansmann; and Keith, Matthew and Stephanie Williams. He is also survived by his brother, Marvin Hansman, of Green Valley, AZ; and sister, Marcille (Hansman) Andersen of Wisconsin Rapids, WI.

Art and Dorothy were members of St. Richard of Chichester Catholic Church in Racine. A Catholic Memorial service will be held on Saturday, April 23, at the Maresh-Meredith and Acklam Funeral Home, 803 Main St., in Racine, at 1 p.m. Visitation with the family will begin at noon and will continue for a short time following the service.

Donations in lieu of flowers can be made to St. Richard of Chichester Catholic Church for memorial masses, or to the American Society of Hematology, or to the USA Dance Scholarship program, just for the joy of it.

MARESH-MEREDITH & ACKLAM FUNERAL HOME
803 Main St., Racine (262) 634-7888