Obituary Examples for a Husband

Robert James "Bob" Hanley, 76, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, passed away peacefully on October 11, 2026, with his wife of 54 years, Susan, at his side.

Bob was born on May 14, 1950, in Lititz, Pennsylvania, to Joseph and Marian Hanley. He met Susan at a church picnic in 1971, married her the next summer, and spent the rest of his life making her laugh. An electrician by trade, he ran Hanley Electric for thirty-five years and wired half the houses in the county.

He brought Susan her coffee every morning, grew more tomatoes than any family could eat, and never missed a Penn State game. Saturday nights, the two of them could be found square dancing at the fire hall, and he was always the last to leave the floor.

Bob is survived by his wife, Susan; his children, Kevin (Lisa) Hanley and Laura (Mark) Brenneman; five grandchildren; and his brother, Dennis. He was preceded in death by his parents and his sister, Joan.

Visitation will be held Thursday, October 15, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Hillcrest Funeral Home. The funeral will be Friday, October 16, at 11 a.m. at Grace United Methodist Church, with burial to follow. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to the local volunteer fire company.

Gerald "Gerry" Novak, 81, of Green Bay, Wisconsin, died on October 6, 2026. He was born on March 2, 1945, in De Pere, Wisconsin, to Frank and Helen Novak. His wife, Margaret, wrote this for him:

I met Gerry at a church dance in 1965. He stepped on my feet twice and asked me out anyway. We were married the next summer, and for sixty years he made me laugh at least once a day, even on the hard days.

He worked thirty-four years at the paper mill and never once complained about the hours. He could fix anything with duct tape and a Packers game on the radio. He held my hand in church, at the doctor's office and in the car, and he always let me have the last word, even when he knew he was right.

Gerry, you were the best decision I ever made. Thank you for sixty years. Save me a dance.

Gerry is also survived by his children, Mark (Julie) Novak, Teresa (Paul) Kowalski and Steven Novak; eight grandchildren; and his sister, Dorothy. He was preceded in death by his parents and his brother, Joe.

A celebration of Gerry's life will be held Saturday, October 17, from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Ashwaubenon Community Center.

Charles Wesley Pruitt, 84, of Lexington, Kentucky, died on October 8, 2026. A retired high school history teacher and a longtime deacon at First Baptist Church, he was the devoted husband of 61 years to Frances; loving father of Mark (Denise) Pruitt and Carolyn (Jeff) Mabry; and proud grandfather of six. Visitation will be held Tuesday, October 13, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Hillcrest Funeral Home. The funeral will be Wednesday, October 14, at 11 a.m. at the church, with burial to follow.

Arthur Henry Jensen, 89, of Cedar Falls, Iowa, passed away on October 3, 2026, eight weeks before his 66th wedding anniversary.

Art was born on April 9, 1937, in Waterloo, Iowa. He met Arlene Schmidt at a roller rink in 1958, asked her to skate the couples' skate, and she said yes before he finished the question. They were married on November 28, 1960, and he spent the next sixty-five years trying to make her laugh like that again. Most days, he did.

They farmed corn and soybeans outside Cedar Falls for forty years, Art in the field and Arlene keeping the books, raising four children and driving the grain truck at harvest. They never took a trip without a cooler of sandwiches, and they never went to bed angry, though Art said some nights they stayed up very late.

In his last years, when his memory began to fade, he still knew her. Every morning he asked, "Is my girl coming today?" and every day she was there.

Art is survived by his wife of 65 years, Arlene; his children, Linda (Roger) Meyer, David (Sue) Jensen, Karen Jensen and Paul (Amy) Jensen; eleven grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents, Henry and Clara, and his brothers, Carl and Harold.

The funeral will be held Thursday, October 8, at 10:30 a.m. at Our Savior's Lutheran Church, with burial to follow.

Raymond Louis "Ray" Dubois, 78, of Lafayette, Louisiana, passed away at home on October 9, 2026, with his wife, Diane, at his side.

Ray was born on August 18, 1948, in Opelousas, Louisiana. He spent thirty years as a petroleum engineer, much of it two weeks on and two weeks off on rigs in the Gulf. After he lost his first wife, Claudette, in 2009, he thought the best part of his life was behind him. Then, at a Friday-night dance in 2012, Diane asked him for a two-step, and he never sat down again. They married in 2014, and he liked to tell anyone who would listen that he had been lucky twice.

Ray made a gumbo that could stop an argument, kept a boat he called "Second Wind," and never met a grandchild, step or otherwise, that he didn't spoil.

Ray is survived by his wife of 12 years, Diane; his children, Michelle (Andre) Guidry and Marc (Tina) Dubois; his stepchildren, Brian (Kelly) Hebert and Amy Hebert; and nine grandchildren, all of whom he called his own. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Claudette, and his parents, Louis and Odile Dubois.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Wednesday, October 14, at 10 a.m. at St. Anne Catholic Church, with visitation beginning at 8:30 a.m.