John William Hanner's Obituary
John William Hanner passed away on Nov. 30 in his home in Baltimore, Maryland. He had celebrated his 39th birthday five days earlier. John was born on November 25, 1983, in Washington, D.C, to his parents Kenneth Hanner and Donna Tanner.
The family moved from Arlington, Virginia, in 1985 to Bowie, Maryland, where John's sister Elizabeth (Lizzy) was born in 1987. The family became members of the United Parish of Bowie, where John was baptized and confirmed.
As a youngster, John was active in the Bowie Boys and Girls Club, where he played baseball, basketball, and soccer. Ken took John to the park many times to hit grounders and pitch him batting practice. He loved sports, excelled academically, and learned to play the trumpet and tuba. He started playing the guitar, beginning on Donna's acoustic before getting his own electric guitar.
John busied himself with sports and skateboarding, making lots of friends along the way. The family belonged to a community pool where they spent summers swimming and playing tennis. They sampled international cuisines at good restaurants once a month to expose the children to different cultures. These experiences were later reflected in John's love of cooking and appreciation of good food. John took numerous trips while growing up: traveling to England with his father, Ecuador with his mother, and with the whole family visiting relatives in Nashville, Tennessee, and Northern California
John attended elementary and middle school in Bowie, MD. In 2001, he graduated in the top 10% of his class from Eleanor Roosevelt High School's Math/Science Magnet Program in Greenbelt, Maryland where he played on the lacrosse team and was active in many theater productions.
After his parents divorced, John stayed in Bowie with his mother and sister while completing the requirements for a BA in Studio Art at the University of Maryland, College Park. He produced large surreal oil paintings. Continuing with this passion, John moved to a warehouse for artists in Baltimore. Later he moved to St. Augustine, Florida where he and his girlfriend hoped to take advantage of the local tourist trade to make a modest living with their art.
After four years in Florida, John joined his father and new step-mother, Anne, in Austin, Texas. There he completed a BS in Accounting online from Colorado State University. John lived in the Austin area for six years and held various jobs in the food-service industry. His sense of adventure led him to move to Arizona to take a job at the Grand Canyon. However, after a few months the coronavirus pandemic hit, the park closed, and he moved back to Baltimore, Maryland to be close to his sister and mother.
John was a good-natured child growing up. He had an adventurous spirit and was smart, sensitive, and inquisitive. He made many friends. He loved gatherings of people where he was often the life of the party; discussing music, history, and spirituality. In spite of the geographic distances due to his many moves, he kept in contact with those important to him. John could talk on the phone for hours: he never met a stranger and made new friends everywhere he went.
"John was a gifted visual artist and musician," his longtime friend Lee Durham said after John’s passing. "He was extremely loyal, kind and good-hearted. He also remembered all his exploits and could recall details with incredible accuracy. These stories are now mostly lost."
His sister Lizzy said of John: "He was a kind and loving person and we will forever miss him."
John is survived by his father Kenneth Hanner and stepmother Anne Hanner of Georgetown, Texas; his mother Donna Tanner and her partner George Kaleyias of Palm Coast, Florida,; his sister Elizabeth Hanner and her spouse Nick Dobson of Baltimore; and many beloved aunts, uncles, and cousins.
The family welcomes you to attend one or both of the following events to honor John:
Visitation: Sunday, Dec. 11th, 7 PM-9 PM at the Charles L Stevens Funeral Home; 1501 E. Fort Ave., Baltimore, MD 21230
Memorial Service: Monday, Dec. 12th, 2 PM at the Colesville Presbyterian Church; 12800 New Hampshire Ave., Silver Spring, MD 20904
John cared deeply about others. If you would like to honor John’s life and memory through helping others, please consider sending a donation to Jose Andres’ World Central Kitchen (WCK) that provides food to people in crisis locally and all over the world; and/or Montgomery County, MD branch of NAMI - National Alliance on Mental Illness:
WCK: https://donate.wck.org/JohnHanner
NAMI: https://donate.nami.org/JohnHanner
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