Friends of a Jay man who died early Thursday morning in a single-vehicle crash in Wilton say he was a dedicated father who devoted time to his children’s activities.

Dennis Hanson, 37, of Jay, a father of three girls ages 4 to 10, was driving home from work shortly after midnight along icy Route 156 west of McCrillis Corner Road when his vehicle struck a utility pole, according to Wilton Police Chief Heidi Wilcox.

Members of the central Maine gymnastics community recalled that Hanson was a willing volunteer at the gymnastics center where his girls are members.

Carol Hamilton-Brewer, owner of Decal Gymnastics, said two of Hanson’s daughters are involved in the sport, and their father helped set up for meets and did other work for the group.

“Anytime we needed anything, we just picked up the phone and he was there,” she said.

Hanson had three daughters, Jaiden, Rachel and Faith, according to Hamilton-Brewer. His wife, Kelli, works at Maine-ly Gymnastics, which is owned by Hamilton-Brewer’s daughter Delani Evans.

Advertisement

Hamilton-Brewer said Hanson made it a priority to help the gymnastics club because he wanted to support his family’s activities.

“Family was important to him. Anything his kids were involved with was something that was important to him,” she said.

Wilcox said in a news release that Hanson was driving west toward Route 133 around 12:35 a.m., when his 2002 Chevrolet TrailBlazer went off the road, rolled over and struck a utility pole. The pole was broken and power lines were knocked down.

Wilcox said the road was icy, which probably played a role in the accident.

Hanson was wearing a seat belt, the police chief said. The family had moved recently from Wilton to Jay.

The accident remains under investigation by Officer Derek Daley, of Wilton Police Department.

Kaitlin Schroeder can be contacted at 861-9252 or at:

kschroeder@centralmaine.com


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.