KEITH G. HANSFORD, ENS, USN
Keith Hansford '65
Lucky Bag
From the 1965 Lucky Bag:
KEITH GEORGE HANSFORD
Green Bay, Wisconsin
Keith hails from the land of sky-blue waters and football — Green Bay, Wisconsin. He came to the Naval Academy directly from High School, bringing with him the same zest for life he had there. He didn't have to worry about the studies, yet his every minute was filled with activity. He was known as the biggest "liberty hound" around, and it was a rare weekend that you found him at the Academy. Many of those weekends were taken up touring the country with the Varsity Debate Team, which he was a member of for three years. Tennis, swimming, and golf were his sports — and if the weather was bad, there was always a good book. Keith was well-liked by his classmates, and was elected his company honor representative. With his natural ability to get along with people and to make things work, his entire life is assured of being happy and rewarding.
KEITH GEORGE HANSFORD
Green Bay, Wisconsin
Keith hails from the land of sky-blue waters and football — Green Bay, Wisconsin. He came to the Naval Academy directly from High School, bringing with him the same zest for life he had there. He didn't have to worry about the studies, yet his every minute was filled with activity. He was known as the biggest "liberty hound" around, and it was a rare weekend that you found him at the Academy. Many of those weekends were taken up touring the country with the Varsity Debate Team, which he was a member of for three years. Tennis, swimming, and golf were his sports — and if the weather was bad, there was always a good book. Keith was well-liked by his classmates, and was elected his company honor representative. With his natural ability to get along with people and to make things work, his entire life is assured of being happy and rewarding.
Loss
Keith was lost on July 14, 1966 when his training aircraft crashed near Foley, Alabama, while on a training flight from Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida.
Other Information
From the August-September 1966 issue of Shipmate:
Ens. Hansford, who was born in Green Bay, attended Sacred Heart Seminary a year before entering the Naval Academy, from where he was graduated in 1965. He was a member of the Academy debate team.
Survivors include his parents, Mr. and Mrs. W. N. Hansford…; three brothers, Todd Hansford, who is serving in Vietnam; Craig and Scott, and twin sisters, Lita and Lisa.
From researcher Kathy Franz:
Keith was attached to training squadron 5 at the Naval Auxiliary Air Station at Saufley Field. He was on a routine solo training flight in a T-28 propeller-drive training plane. When making a landing approach to Barin Field, the plane crashed into a wooded area 25 miles from Pensacola.
Graduating from Premontre High School in 1961, he was secretary of his class, a member of student council and the school paper, and participated in forensics and dramatics. He won the Voice of Democracy contest in November 1960. He was appointed to the Naval Academy by Rep. John W. Byrnes.
In May 1966, he was an usher and swordsman at 2nd Lt. Frederick Schram’s wedding along with Ensigns Jim Edwards (‘65,) Dick Smith (‘65,) and Bill Bliss; and 2nd Lts. Bill Lelash, Dave Myers, Jim Furlow, and Jack Howell.
He is buried in Wisconsin.
Photographs
From the Green Bay Press Gazette on November 17, 1960
Remembrances
In the Class of 1965 column in the August-September 1966 issue of Shipmate:
Keith HANSFORD was killed while practicing for carrier qualifications in VT-5 here at Pensacola. All of us down here remember that when John Mickelson was in the hospital recuperating from his serious accident, it was Keith who was by his side every spare moment to help him pull through. This was the kind of friend that Keith Hansford was to everyone who knew him.
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