Andrea (Gertrude) Hanington.Courtesy of family
Andrea (Gertrude) Hanington: Cat lover. Origami artist. Judoka. Parent. Born March 14, 1939, in Graz Steiermark, Austria; died Feb. 15, 2025, in London, Ont., of interstitial lung disease; aged 85
Gertrude Daeuber’s earliest memories included getting dressed in the dark to go to the bomb shelter and idyllic postwar summers working on the extended family’s farm in southern Austria.
At age 15, she travelled by passenger liner with her father, stepmother and younger siblings to settle in London, Ont., to be near family friends from “the old country.” Having lost her mother in a mountain-climbing incident at age 11, Gertrude didn’t really want to leave her beloved Oma to immigrate to Canada, but later recalled it as the best thing that ever happened to her.
In 1957, outside of London’s Lounge restaurant, she met Dan Hanington, a university student who impressed her with his free-thinking ideas, one of which was, after being called “dirty Gertie,” she could just change her name. Henceforth, she was Andrea.
Andrea’s aspiration was a career in nursing. She trained at the Mountain Sanatorium in Hamilton, Ont., where she cared for and fell in love with the Inuit children who were sent there to recover from tuberculosis.
Married in 1959, she and Dan frequented a Hamilton coffee house where they struck up a conversation with a couple who were taking judo lessons at the local dojo. This initiated Andrea’s participation in Judo and a lifelong interest in things Japanese, including origami.
After 10 years of marriage, Andrea left Dan and returned to London with her three children (Pam, 10, Mike, 8 and Chris, aged 5) where she returned to work. She spent days working in long-term care and raising her children, and completed a laboratory technician program at night. In the labs of London’s Western University, Andrea’s cell culture skills were legendary, and both colleagues and students recall her as skilled, organized, patient and funny.
In her spare time, she found homes for unneeded lab animals in local kindergarten classrooms, complete with supplies, instructions and cages she refurbished. Many animals ended up in the family home (a two-bedroom apartment), including Ace, the pet skunk.
As a mom, Andrea role-modelled healthy skepticism, how to live a practical life, the value of logic and reason and the importance of co-operation. “It costs nothing to be polite,” was a truism she lived by. That, and “it’s always time for a coffee!” Determined to succeed personally as well as professionally, in 1972 Andrea achieved a black belt in judo, and earned her Nidan (second degree black belt in judo) five years later.
Andrea’s Christmas gift wrapping was so beautiful and precise, her gifts were hard to open. But once they were, her family was encouraged to keep the decorations for next year. She never wasted a thing, was particular almost to a fault and insistent on a spotless home. She never even allowed dishes to “air dry.”
With her children grown, Andrea realized her dream of visiting Canada’s Far North. She travelled to Canada’s territories with her great friend, Cheryl, visiting Whitehorse and Dawson City, and they drove the Dempster Highway to Inuvik before flying to Tuktoyaktuk.
Andrea retired at 70, and began travelling with her daughter, Pam. She also spent a great deal of time with Evan, her youngest grandchild, and used her origami and photography skills to create greeting cards that were sold in London’s hospital gift shops.
Andrea was fit into her 80s, and yet an early exposure to tropical birds resulted in “bird fancier’s lung,” which resurfaced 40 years later after an allergic reaction to an antibiotic. Nevertheless, she remained feisty and independent. She never said no to a road trip, a restaurant meal or a walk in her neighbourhood. Over her life, she adopted a number of rescue cats, and when her memory started to slip, she still remembered the names of her neighbours’ dogs.
In the fall of 2024, Andrea moved into a retirement home where she was known for her quick comebacks, hilarious facial expressions and great appetite. She ate potatoes no matter how they were prepared and never met a bowl of soup she didn’t like.
Her favourite Star Trek character was the logical Mr. Spock who greeted people with the phrase, “Live long and prosper.” Andrea did just that.
Pam Hanington is Andrea Hanington’s daughter.
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