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March 11, 2010
As reported by Chris Mertes in the Sun Prairie Star.
A new book by the son of the late former Sun Prairie mayor Dave Hanneman details the late mayor’s battle with the disease -- as well as the inspirational impact it had on the Hanneman family.
Entitled The Journey Home: My Father’s Story of Cancer, Faith and Life-Changing Miracles, the book authored by Joe Hanneman is currently available on Amazon.com or at www.journeyhomestory.com.
“This is the story of how Dad lived with his lung cancer. But it is much more,” Joe Hanneman wrote in the foreword to the book. “Through his illness and the miracles we experienced, I came to see that Dad’s was not just a journey. It was a journey home. Home to God.”
In a press release, Hanneman said he writes in the book how he got to know his father well for the first time during the elder Hanneman’s three years of illness. “Each step on the journey came to convince the author that there was more going on than anyone seemed to realize. His father’s most enduring life lesson came during his final hour,” the press releases states.
Hanneman’s minute-by-minute description of that hour will make a deep impression on anyone who reads the story, he said.
“It left an indelible imprint on my soul,” Hanneman wrote.
Monsignor Duane Moellenberndt, the Wisconsin Catholic priest from Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Church who ministered to David Hanneman during his final months, in a press release accompanying the book called The Journey Home “one of the most moving and inspiring works I have ever read. It is a beautiful story.”
Noted Catholic author and filmmaker Stephen K. Ray said in the press release the story “should be told to the world.”
Hospice also plays a large role in the book, according to the press release: “The Journey Home also describes the crucial role a hospice center near Madison, Wis., played in the family’s miraculous experiences. The HospiceCare Inc. residence took such great care of this dying man that his family could focus on spending quality time and preparing for goodbye.
“And so we talked. Mom, Amy, Marghi, David and I — recounting stories, saying ‘thank- you’ and expressing love. Over and over. These bedside conversations turned out to be one of the true blessings of the hospice experience for our family. Nothing was left un- said,” Hanneman wrote.
Dave Hanneman served as alderman, Dane County Board Supervisor and mayor of Sun Prairie. He was defeated in 2005 by the current mayor, Joe Chase.
His community service included membership in the Knights of Columbus as well as to his church, Sacred Hearts. One of his acts of community service was to serve as honorary chair for the American Cancer Society Relay for Life in Sun Prairie.
The Journey Home is 160 pages and includes a section of photographs called “A Journey in Pictures.” It also contains historical clippings from newspapers.
The book, currently listed at $12.95, is published by S+One, an imprint of Wisconsin-based Strategis One LLC.
It can be purchased on the publisher’s Web site, www.journeyhomestory.com, or at Amazon.com.
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