Judith Wagner Hanson, age 70, of Columbus, MS, passed away January 31, 2011, at Baptist Memorial Hospital. Funeral services will be Thursday, February 3, 2011, at 10:00 AM at St. Paul's Episcopal Church with Rev. James Carlyle officiating and Memorial Funeral Home directing. Visitation will be Thursday, February 3, 2011, one hour prior to the service in the Earline Robertson Room of St. Paul's Episcopal Church. A committal service will be Thursday, 4:00 PM at Memorial Park Cemetery in Memphis, TN. Mrs. Hanson was born November 2, 1940, in Memphis, TN, to the late Clinton Justice and Vera Boren Wagner. She had been painting and studying art since the age of eight. She devoted every Saturday to her study of art until she graduated from high school. Upon graduation art became her passion. She spent three years at the Art Students League of New York studying under such famous artists as Robert Brackman, potrait artist for John D. Rockefeller and Charles A. Lindbergh. Brackman studied under George Bellows and Robert Henri. Judy studied anatomy under the famous Frank Beverly Hale. After completing her study in New York, she traveled to Texas to the Dallas Art Institute. Following her study in Dallas, she studied under J. Nelson Shanks. The world renowned Shanks has been commissioned to paint portraits of Lady Dianna, Ronald Reagan, and Luciano Pavarotti, among a few. She considered herself a colorist because she used colors for shapes and employed her old masters background when painting. She also used the methods of light to light perfected by the impressionists. These methods resulted in portraits which are most well received. Her paintings hang throughout the United States and Europe. Mrs. Hanson was a member of St. Pauls Episcopal Church, was best known for portrait painting and fine arts, and loved her friends in Columbus as family. Survivors include her son, J. Fletcher Hanson, III, and his wife Denise of North Little Rock, AR, daughter, Elizabeth Hanson, sisters, Clinton Garrison and her husband, Lynn of Memphis, TN, Sue Goodwin of Memphis, TN, and Beth Stevens and her husband, Norman of Mt. Olive, MS, and grandchildren, Taylor and Tara Bowers of North Little Rock, AR. Pallbearers will be Tandy Wilson, David Garrison, Clint Wagner, Bobby Harper, Jimmy Graham, Ralph Null, Fred Kinder, Mike Waters, and Dr. Bobby Dill. Memorials may be made to Camp Rising Sun, P.O. Box 8241, Columbus, MS, 39703-8241 , St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 318 College St., Columbus, MS 39701 or to the donor's favorite charity.
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