Hansine was called to return to the angels on December 19, 2024. She died at home after a long illness, cared for with extraordinary kindness by husband Mike and Trailwinds Hospice. While here, she touched so many lives, giving them hope, joy and purpose.
Hansine will be missed but we are all thankful for the gift of being able to spend time with her.
In heaven she brings the compassion, empathy, insights, and love that she bestowed upon those of us fortunate to receive her blessings.
Hansine was born in San Francisco to Ruth and Knud Pedersen.
She spent most of her life in the Bay Area until the end when she and her husband, Mike moved to Boulder to be close to their son and their grandchildren.
Hansine, like her mother Ruth, brought creativity, passion, and artistic talent to her many careers. She has a deep understanding of psychology and dreamwork and trained as a Jungian therapist.
This knowledge and skill infused her work as a human resource director, as a career counsellor, as an entrepreneur responsible for creating "Options, You and Work," a platform that enabled Hansine to provide one-on-one, intense counselling sessions to clients, and "Current Carpets," a state-of-the-art textile company that broke new ground in modern design.
Hansine touched many and many have benefitted from her tough love. Her Jungian inspired career counselling was life changing for many. She will be missed.
The final years, months and days have been difficult for Hansine but her spirit continued to soar.
Despite physical challenges, she continued to care about others and prepare them for her leaving.
During the final days, she was surrounded by family and friends and was able to provide each of us with a personal good-bye.
From an early age, Hansine had a deep connection to nature.
She felt most alive when near the ocean, in the fog and wind, and she loved to surf. She was born August 23, 1948, in San Francisco, near Ocean Beach. Her mother, Ruth Haller Pedersen (nee Isaacs) was a seminal creative artist who worked in many forms of media including painting, sculpture, potter y and jewelry. Ruth was a member of the groundbreaking San Francisco Bay Area arts community. Hansine's father, Knud Aage Pedersen immigrated from Denmark and was a bosun for the Sailor's Union of the Pacific, and the Golden Bear Lines, working on the San Francisco water front. Knud moved the family to Castro Valley when Hansine was 8, where he created a Danish farm in homage to his childhood home. Knud built a tree house for Hansine where she spent hours and days of her childhood sharing ghost stories with her friends and expanding her imagination. When not in the tree house, she and her friends enjoyed bike rides exploring the charms of the Bay Area.
Hansine attended art classes throughout her childhood and started her first self-taught business at age 15. She made bespoke sandals for artists in the community.
At 22, Hansine gave birth to Charles, the love of her life. Charles and Hansine were inseparable as mother and son and as best friends. In 1981 Hansine married Mike Goran.
"Falling in love with Mike was the most significant moment in my life." Mike adopted Charles and we have been a family ever since. This year we celebrated our 43rd anniversary. Mike's family embraced Hansine and Charles and we all became an integral part of the Goran extended family.
Hansine's career combined her gifts for helping others, her creativity, her entrepreneurship, and her incredible will power. While at UC Santa Cruz, when not driving her beloved black MGA, she continued her studies of Jung and dream work.
She became passionate about personnel and over the years served as a human resource director and professional for a wide range of companies including Del Monte, Rockridge Health Care Plan, and Ralston Purina.
She created and operated two companies: Options and Current Carpets.
"Options, You and Work," delivered career counselling and human resource consulting to companies and individuals. Options was life changing for her clients. Hansine helped her clients confront barriers and successfully make transitions to new ways of living. But intense counselling was costly to her health. So, she tapped into her creative side and created "Current Carpets," designing custom carpets for design professionals and individuals, nationwide.
Hansine opened a carpet gallery in Gualala and The Sea Ranch on the North coast of California and was soon recognized for her innovative contemporary designs which have been imitated again and again. Hansine was asked to give speeches and had the honor of serving on the Textile Board of the DeYoung Museum.
She is survived by husband Mike, son Charles, daughter-in-law Sarah, grandchildren Spencer, Miles, Mia, and Spencer's mom, Jennifer, nieces Geri Fruzetti, and Teri Valdivia, nephews Greg and Michael Bailey, the Straar up family in Denmark (Aase, Erik, Kim, Inger, Connie, Heidi, Rikke, Troels), and the Goran extended family (Nancy Groshart, Josh Woodbur y, Kelly Moodie, Anna Jacobson, Leah Morehead).
Private services for the family will be held at the Natural Funeral in Lafayette, CO. Hansine and Mike will be interred in the Meditation Chapel at the Chapel of the Chimes in Oakland, CA, in the city where they met and where Hansine's mother Ruth is interred.