Laurel left peacefully to join the home of her Lord on Thursday, February 13 at age 88 in Raleigh, NC. She was a loving daughter, sister, niece, wife, mother, aunt, and cousin. Laurel was a friend to everyone whose path she crossed including the staff and residents of the Springmoor Life Care Retirement Community’s Stewart Health Center where she has received excellent skilled nursing care since 2021.

Laurel was the daughter of J. Milton and Louise Hansen of Park Ridge, Illinois and had twin older brothers, Donald and Ronald, who all predeceased her. Laurel was a life-long Lutheran who graduated from St. Olaf college in Northfield, Minnesota and then earned her master’s degree from the University of Minnesota. As a beloved home economics teacher in Illinois, she inspired many young students including 13-year-old Hillary Rodham. Much later when Hillary Rodham Clinton was a senator from New York, she invited Laurel to spend a day with her in Washington, DC office.

Laurel married Bill Stanell in 1968 in Park Ridge and they moved into his home in Allendale, New Jersey. Four years later they made the life-changing decision to adopt a family of four teenage siblings who had lost their parents. Mark, Chris, Patrick, and Kelly Linden were the joy of their lives and were the beneficiaries of Laurel and Bill’s wise counsel, love and support. Their children, in turn, provided them with a growing and loving family of grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. In Allendale, the Calvary Lutheran Church was the center of Laurel and Bill’s lives where they were active members, and each sang in the choir.

Following Bill’s retirement in 1985 they relocated to Whispering Pines, North Carolina where Bill played a lot of golf and Laurel became a valuable member of the Pinehurst Area Visitors Bureau. She loved introducing people to the community and helping companies find the best local venues to host their business meetings and golf tournaments.

Their home in Whispering Pines was located at the water’s edge on a beautiful lake with a nice walk all the way around. It was Laurel’s tradition to begin each day, in almost any weather, with that 3-mile walk. The collection of notes from what she observed during her walks became the material for her book “Early Morning Walks with God” that was published in 2012 by Inspiring Voices, a service of Guideposts. Laurel quickly became an active member of Our Savior Lutheran Church in Southern Pines, NC where she sang in the choir and was a leader in the Family Promise program.

Laurel looked forward to the day she would reunite with Bill and with her son Patrick who both pre-deceased her. She is survived by her three children and their families, her cousins Suzanne Blakemore, Peter, Paul, John, and Jim Benda, Jane and Chris Hansen and many nephews, nieces and their extended families. A Celebration of Life service will be held for Laurel at Springmoor (1500 Sawmill Rd, Raleigh, NC) at 2:00 PM on Friday, March 7. Laurel will later be interred with her husband in Des Plaines, IL. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Olaf College.

In closing, please reflect on these words from Laurel’s poem “Change of Seasons” which opens her book.

“. . . People have changes of seasons too, when they shed some ideas and think of something new.
It’s a gradual growth every day, every year, but no need to worry, God is always here.”