For decades he helped kids fix cars. Pasco High teacher dies doing what he loved

A Pasco High teacher known for his love of classic cars and books and a driving desire to help his students died Tuesday following a shop accident.

Jeffrey D. Hanan was helping a friend fix an old Ford Model A in a garage on Road 111 in Pasco when he was badly burned Monday.

The 65-year-old was flown to the burn unit at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle but died the next day.

Since his death, hundreds of former students have taken to Facebook to share warm comments about the longtime Pasco and Kennewick teacher.

Hanan grew up in the Tri-Cities and was from a family of educators. His father worked at Pasco High School and his uncle was a principal in the Finley School District.

He was Pasco High’s metals and welding teacher and previously taught math and science at Desert Hills Middle School.

And when he wasn’t teaching metals technology and welding at Pasco High, he was busy working on cars in his own shop, said his wife Bernie, a recently retired Pasco teacher.

Hanan still had a 1937 Chevy pickup that his dad bought from a pastor when Hanan was still a teenager.

He also had a 1934 Chevy that he crashed when he was picking up Bernie for a date.

“When we got engaged, I didn’t get a ring. I got a title to a 1934 Chevy,” she told the Herald. “I wasn’t going to leave, so he knew he would never have to part with it.”

Along with cars, Hanan loved to sing and was a member of the Tri-City Men’s Chorus. He also was a voracious reader with an interest in the history of the Pacific Northwest.

“When he wasn’t working on his cars, he had a book in his hand,” Bernie said. “He was very sensitive to people’s needs. He had a great sense of humor.”

Teaching career

His teaching career started at Milo Adventist Academy, a private school in central Oregon. While he was there, he met and married his wife.

He taught there for 13 years, and then spent two years working in Kenya with US Aid and the University of Eastern Africa setting up their technical department.

At the boarding school, he was around his students all of the time, which meant spending time with kids outside of the classroom. When he began teaching in public school in Aberdeen, he continued to help students with their cars at his house.

“Kids would show up on Sunday and he would be out there helping them with their cars,” Bernie said. “That was just the kind of guy that he was.”

The father of two returned to the Tri-Cities in the late 90s to start working at Desert Hills Middle School, where he spent about 17 years.

Then he had a chance to work in the classroom next to where his dad taught at Pasco High.

“Lost one of my favorite teachers today,” one student wrote. “Thanks to you Mr. Hanan, I’ve had the joy of building motors.”

Pasco schools have counselors available to help students and staff.

This story was originally published May 7, 2020 at 12:42 PM.