July 17, 2008  

GLENFIELD, N.Y.  —  Leo R. Hanno, 83, a well-known retired dairy farmer, died Wednesday, July 16, at his residence on Main Street while under the care of his family and Lewis County Hospice.

A funeral Mass will be said 10 a.m. Monday, July 21, at St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Lowville with Rev. Timothy J. Soucy, pastor, officiating. Burial will follow in the Old Glendale Cemetery. 

Family and friends may call 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Sunday, July 20, at the Sundquist Funeral Home, 7676 State Street, Lowville.

Memorials may be made in Mr. Hanno’s name to: Friends of Lewis County Hospice, P.O. Box 266, Lowville, NY 13367 or to Lewis County Agricultural Society, 7740 Dewitt Street, Lowville, NY 13367.

Born March 1, 1925, in the town of Martinsburg, a son of Waite C. and Kathryn Kelly Hanno, Leo attended rural school #9 and General Martin School. He served with the United States Navy for a short period at the end of WWII. 

Mr. Hanno married Helen V. Berkey on Sept. 1, 1951, in Connellsville, Pa. She died in 1993.

Together the couple owned and operated a dairy farm on State Route 26, north of Lowville for ten years, from 1951 until 1961. It was then that they purchased the family homestead on the Lee Road in Glenfield; retiring in 1988. 

Mr. Hanno was a communicant of St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Lowville where he worked for a number of years as custodian and volunteered his time during the St. Peter’s Festival. He was also a member of the Lowville Elks Club BPOE #1605 and the Polish American Club. 

He especially loved to attend the Lewis County Fair each year as well as the New York State Fair. 

His favorite pastime was visiting and his passion was his grandchildren, always ready and willing to share a story about their many accomplishments.

Surviving are three sons and their wives, Gregory P. and Katherine, Colleyville, Texas, Dennis M. and Susan of Amherst, Mass., and Douglas P. and Mary, Lowville; two daughters and their husbands, Susan and Gary Berrus, Lowville, and Rebecca and Eric Zweifel, New Orleans, La.; a sister and her husband, Mary and Dale Widmeyer, Glenfield; a brother, Thomas of Lowville; 11 grandchildren; and several nieces, nephews and cousins. 

Two infant children, Brian and Melissa, a daughter, Kathryn Mellnitz, three brothers, Paul, David and Peter, and a sister, Rita Allen, all died before him.

Information provided by Sundquist Funeral Home of Lowville and Newzjunky, Watertown, N.Y.