St. Paul Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minnesota)
9 - 11 June 2000
To the people who knew him, Gerald Hanggi represented a pillar of strength. The lifelong St. Paul resident and former police officer who evaded death on more than one occasion and quietly led by example, died Thursday at the age of 79.
Hanggi's brushes with danger began when he joined the Navy at the age of 17. He spent three years serving in the South Pacific and was on his way home in December 1941 when his ship stopped at Pearl Harbor for a brief layover. He not only escaped death in the first attack against the United States in World War II, but managed to save many other sailors and went on to serve another four years, fighting in major naval battles in the Pacific, said his son Greg Hanggi, of Houston.
That experience "shaped and designed his life," Greg Hanggi said. "He learned about survival, honor, courage and he tried to live that."
Hanggi joined the St. Paul Police Department in 1948; he retired in 1990 with the rank of lieutenant. People who worked with him remembered him as having his hands in everything and as a credit to the department and the city. Hanggi moved up through the ranks, and while working as a detective in 1966, he was shot and injured tracking a robber.
"He could've very easily lost his life," said longtime friend and retired police Sgt. Dick Feider. "He lost almost all of the use of both his legs and he was told he would never walk again, but Gerry fooled them all."
Hanggi, who died of an inoperable brain tumor, never recovered completely from the shooting, which damaged the nerves in his legs, and he was forced to walk using canes the rest of his life. "He was a very private guy," Feider said. "He never thought of himself as handicapped, but took that as a challenge."
After the shooting, Hanggi went back to work for the department in the crime lab. Perhaps Hanggi 's proudest achievement, Feider said, was his development of technology for fingerprint identification.
Russ Bovee, a friend and former officer, said Hanggi was instrumental in developing and bringing fingerprint scanning machinery to the St. Paul force, the first police department in the state and one of the first in the nation to have the equipment.
And while Hanggi could not be on the street fighting crime, Feider said that because of the technology, at one point Hanggi was responsible for the conviction of more criminals than anyone else in the department.
Throughout his achievements, Hanggi's injury caused him constant pain - pain he rarely spoke of and dealt with in his own way. "He endured a tremendous amount of personal suffering and pain," Greg Hanggi said. His father always used to say "bravery isn't about enduring suffering, it's about making a difference in the world despite your suffering."
Besides his son Greg (Kathy), Hanggi is survived by his wife of 57 years, Bernice (Leitner); son Jerry (Sharyn), of Dellwood; daughters Nancy (Ken) Whittemore, of Hartland, Wisconsin, and Kimberly Hanggi, of Balsam Lake, Wisconsin; five grandchildren, Jerry (Sonja), Brad (Maria), Heather (Michael), Kip (Amy), Gregory; one great-grandchild, Elena Frances; and special family friend, Joyce Campagna.
He was a member of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association, VFW, International Identification Association and board member of St. Paul Police Benevolent Association.
Services for Hanggi will be at 11 a.m. Monday at St. Bernard's Catholic Church, 197 W. Geranium Ave. Interment Roselawn Cemetery.
9 - 11 June 2000
To the people who knew him, Gerald Hanggi represented a pillar of strength. The lifelong St. Paul resident and former police officer who evaded death on more than one occasion and quietly led by example, died Thursday at the age of 79.
Hanggi's brushes with danger began when he joined the Navy at the age of 17. He spent three years serving in the South Pacific and was on his way home in December 1941 when his ship stopped at Pearl Harbor for a brief layover. He not only escaped death in the first attack against the United States in World War II, but managed to save many other sailors and went on to serve another four years, fighting in major naval battles in the Pacific, said his son Greg Hanggi, of Houston.
That experience "shaped and designed his life," Greg Hanggi said. "He learned about survival, honor, courage and he tried to live that."
Hanggi joined the St. Paul Police Department in 1948; he retired in 1990 with the rank of lieutenant. People who worked with him remembered him as having his hands in everything and as a credit to the department and the city. Hanggi moved up through the ranks, and while working as a detective in 1966, he was shot and injured tracking a robber.
"He could've very easily lost his life," said longtime friend and retired police Sgt. Dick Feider. "He lost almost all of the use of both his legs and he was told he would never walk again, but Gerry fooled them all."
Hanggi, who died of an inoperable brain tumor, never recovered completely from the shooting, which damaged the nerves in his legs, and he was forced to walk using canes the rest of his life. "He was a very private guy," Feider said. "He never thought of himself as handicapped, but took that as a challenge."
After the shooting, Hanggi went back to work for the department in the crime lab. Perhaps Hanggi 's proudest achievement, Feider said, was his development of technology for fingerprint identification.
Russ Bovee, a friend and former officer, said Hanggi was instrumental in developing and bringing fingerprint scanning machinery to the St. Paul force, the first police department in the state and one of the first in the nation to have the equipment.
And while Hanggi could not be on the street fighting crime, Feider said that because of the technology, at one point Hanggi was responsible for the conviction of more criminals than anyone else in the department.
Throughout his achievements, Hanggi's injury caused him constant pain - pain he rarely spoke of and dealt with in his own way. "He endured a tremendous amount of personal suffering and pain," Greg Hanggi said. His father always used to say "bravery isn't about enduring suffering, it's about making a difference in the world despite your suffering."
Besides his son Greg (Kathy), Hanggi is survived by his wife of 57 years, Bernice (Leitner); son Jerry (Sharyn), of Dellwood; daughters Nancy (Ken) Whittemore, of Hartland, Wisconsin, and Kimberly Hanggi, of Balsam Lake, Wisconsin; five grandchildren, Jerry (Sonja), Brad (Maria), Heather (Michael), Kip (Amy), Gregory; one great-grandchild, Elena Frances; and special family friend, Joyce Campagna.
He was a member of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association, VFW, International Identification Association and board member of St. Paul Police Benevolent Association.
Services for Hanggi will be at 11 a.m. Monday at St. Bernard's Catholic Church, 197 W. Geranium Ave. Interment Roselawn Cemetery.
St. Paul Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minnesota)
9 - 11 June 2000
To the people who knew him, Gerald Hanggi represented a pillar of strength. The lifelong St. Paul resident and former police officer who evaded death on more than one occasion and quietly led by example, died Thursday at the age of 79.
Hanggi's brushes with danger began when he joined the Navy at the age of 17. He spent three years serving in the South Pacific and was on his way home in December 1941 when his ship stopped at Pearl Harbor for a brief layover. He not only escaped death in the first attack against the United States in World War II, but managed to save many other sailors and went on to serve another four years, fighting in major naval battles in the Pacific, said his son Greg Hanggi, of Houston.
That experience "shaped and designed his life," Greg Hanggi said. "He learned about survival, honor, courage and he tried to live that."
Hanggi joined the St. Paul Police Department in 1948; he retired in 1990 with the rank of lieutenant. People who worked with him remembered him as having his hands in everything and as a credit to the department and the city. Hanggi moved up through the ranks, and while working as a detective in 1966, he was shot and injured tracking a robber.
"He could've very easily lost his life," said longtime friend and retired police Sgt. Dick Feider. "He lost almost all of the use of both his legs and he was told he would never walk again, but Gerry fooled them all."
Hanggi, who died of an inoperable brain tumor, never recovered completely from the shooting, which damaged the nerves in his legs, and he was forced to walk using canes the rest of his life. "He was a very private guy," Feider said. "He never thought of himself as handicapped, but took that as a challenge."
After the shooting, Hanggi went back to work for the department in the crime lab. Perhaps Hanggi 's proudest achievement, Feider said, was his development of technology for fingerprint identification.
Russ Bovee, a friend and former officer, said Hanggi was instrumental in developing and bringing fingerprint scanning machinery to the St. Paul force, the first police department in the state and one of the first in the nation to have the equipment.
And while Hanggi could not be on the street fighting crime, Feider said that because of the technology, at one point Hanggi was responsible for the conviction of more criminals than anyone else in the department.
Throughout his achievements, Hanggi's injury caused him constant pain - pain he rarely spoke of and dealt with in his own way. "He endured a tremendous amount of personal suffering and pain," Greg Hanggi said. His father always used to say "bravery isn't about enduring suffering, it's about making a difference in the world despite your suffering."
Besides his son Greg (Kathy), Hanggi is survived by his wife of 57 years, Bernice (Leitner); son Jerry (Sharyn), of Dellwood; daughters Nancy (Ken) Whittemore, of Hartland, Wisconsin, and Kimberly Hanggi, of Balsam Lake, Wisconsin; five grandchildren, Jerry (Sonja), Brad (Maria), Heather (Michael), Kip (Amy), Gregory; one great-grandchild, Elena Frances; and special family friend, Joyce Campagna.
He was a member of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association, VFW, International Identification Association and board member of St. Paul Police Benevolent Association.
Services for Hanggi will be at 11 a.m. Monday at St. Bernard's Catholic Church, 197 W. Geranium Ave. Interment Roselawn Cemetery.
9 - 11 June 2000
To the people who knew him, Gerald Hanggi represented a pillar of strength. The lifelong St. Paul resident and former police officer who evaded death on more than one occasion and quietly led by example, died Thursday at the age of 79.
Hanggi's brushes with danger began when he joined the Navy at the age of 17. He spent three years serving in the South Pacific and was on his way home in December 1941 when his ship stopped at Pearl Harbor for a brief layover. He not only escaped death in the first attack against the United States in World War II, but managed to save many other sailors and went on to serve another four years, fighting in major naval battles in the Pacific, said his son Greg Hanggi, of Houston.
That experience "shaped and designed his life," Greg Hanggi said. "He learned about survival, honor, courage and he tried to live that."
Hanggi joined the St. Paul Police Department in 1948; he retired in 1990 with the rank of lieutenant. People who worked with him remembered him as having his hands in everything and as a credit to the department and the city. Hanggi moved up through the ranks, and while working as a detective in 1966, he was shot and injured tracking a robber.
"He could've very easily lost his life," said longtime friend and retired police Sgt. Dick Feider. "He lost almost all of the use of both his legs and he was told he would never walk again, but Gerry fooled them all."
Hanggi, who died of an inoperable brain tumor, never recovered completely from the shooting, which damaged the nerves in his legs, and he was forced to walk using canes the rest of his life. "He was a very private guy," Feider said. "He never thought of himself as handicapped, but took that as a challenge."
After the shooting, Hanggi went back to work for the department in the crime lab. Perhaps Hanggi 's proudest achievement, Feider said, was his development of technology for fingerprint identification.
Russ Bovee, a friend and former officer, said Hanggi was instrumental in developing and bringing fingerprint scanning machinery to the St. Paul force, the first police department in the state and one of the first in the nation to have the equipment.
And while Hanggi could not be on the street fighting crime, Feider said that because of the technology, at one point Hanggi was responsible for the conviction of more criminals than anyone else in the department.
Throughout his achievements, Hanggi's injury caused him constant pain - pain he rarely spoke of and dealt with in his own way. "He endured a tremendous amount of personal suffering and pain," Greg Hanggi said. His father always used to say "bravery isn't about enduring suffering, it's about making a difference in the world despite your suffering."
Besides his son Greg (Kathy), Hanggi is survived by his wife of 57 years, Bernice (Leitner); son Jerry (Sharyn), of Dellwood; daughters Nancy (Ken) Whittemore, of Hartland, Wisconsin, and Kimberly Hanggi, of Balsam Lake, Wisconsin; five grandchildren, Jerry (Sonja), Brad (Maria), Heather (Michael), Kip (Amy), Gregory; one great-grandchild, Elena Frances; and special family friend, Joyce Campagna.
He was a member of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association, VFW, International Identification Association and board member of St. Paul Police Benevolent Association.
Services for Hanggi will be at 11 a.m. Monday at St. Bernard's Catholic Church, 197 W. Geranium Ave. Interment Roselawn Cemetery.
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