Hanger remembered at celebration of life

CLYDE — "You did it again Nancy!" Mary Garvin, a 1982 graduate of Clyde High School, as well as an alumni of Nancy Hanger's volleyball and track and field teams, exclaimed as she started her speech Sunday. A celebration of life for the pioneering trailblazer took place at Clyde High School on Sunday, Hanger's half-birthday. Hanger is credited with starting the Fliers volleyball team, as well as girls basketball team and girls track and field programs. "She always had a way of bringing people together," Garvin said. "Look around this gymnasium that was named after her." To start the memorial service off, the Clyde High School band played both the fight song and alma mater. From there, athletic director Ryan Greenslade took to the podium. He spoke about how Hanger was a gift to everyone and a woman who believed in potential that she saw in everyone she met. Hanger's brothers, Tom and Rick, were then presented with a plaque of proclamation from the city of Clyde declaring July 27th as Nancy Hanger Day. Chris Hannauer, Hanger's nephew-in-law, spoke about how the person that her Clyde family knew was how she was around her family that was spread out. Hanger was described as a "proud left-handed person" and that she had an adventurous heart as she loved traveling out west. Hannauer recalled a moment when Hanger made fun of his facial hair when he was 19 years old. "She said, 'what's this?' as she ran her fingers through it," Hannauer recalled. "I went home and shaved it off that night. It was at that moment that I would get to know her for the next 40 years." He is married to Jody Hanger, who is one of Nancy's nieces. "Nancy was always positive," Hannauer said. "Everyone needs someone like that in their life. I want to give you all a little taste of what she was like." He then pulled a little plastic toy out from under the podium that shot little rings into the air. Doug Fields, a now retired girls cross country coach at Clyde, spoke about his memories of Hanger. He first met her in 1977 when he first walked into the gym to help teach physical education and that she always ran a tight ship in her classroom. "She had high expectations," Fields said. "She was innovative, exercise was important, and so was the personal success of her students." In coaching, Hanger was always teaching athletes to be the best as a person, and that winning would take care of itself. One of the memories that Fields shared with the crowd was the time that Hanger and himself decided to play a prank on the students by crawling into the wrestling mats. "You could hear them asking: 'Where's Miss Hanger?' and after five minutes, we came out of hiding." Fields said. Once Fields was done speaking, there was a performance by Tito Ollervides, who sang an adaptation of "Leader of the Band" by Dan Fogelberg. "Mary (Garvin) wrote the lyrics for me to sing," Ollervides said before performing. The living legacy to the leader of the band was truly a tribute to Hanger's life. Many described her as a master teacher, great coach, and mentor to those in the community. The microphone was passed around after Garvin gave her speech, and one of those to speak was retired Norwalk volleyball coach Grace Hutchinson. Hutchinson holds the current record of 552 wins in volleyball for the Truckers. "She was an outstanding coach first off," said Hutchinson as she fought back tears. "Secondly, she would look at an individual's strengths and weaknesses and then try to piece it together into a perfectly put together puzzle. Those banners represent how she put it together so well. She always had a twinkle in her eye and a smile on her face. "We would always shake hands on the court and hug afterwards." As tears fell, Hutchinson expressed her respect for the woman that brought the model of an excellent volleyball program to the area, and one that Hutchinson was glad to learn how to do at Norwalk. Lindi Cahill, a member of the volleyball team in the 1980s, took to the microphone and talked about the impact that Hanger had on her. "She lit a fire in me," Cahill said. "I was able to play volleyball here, then took it to Kent State University. Volleyball paid my way through college. Hanger showed me that girls can be heroes too." One of the final groups to speak was members of the first-ever girls track and field team, the same ones that jumped the fence in defiance when the boys refused to allow them access. "When it comes to Nancy, the words principled defiance describe her well," Garvin said. "She was gusty, taught responsibility, had empathy and taught us humility. In 1969, she had the blue OHSAA track and field book out and was bouncing ideas off of us for team drills and what to include in practices. "She truly embodied what a great coach, mentor and teacher was supposed to be."