An inspiration, a founder, and a long lasting contributor to the San Francisco Tour Guide Guild, Gladys Hansen passed away on May 11, 2017. She was cremated at Cypress Lawn, and her ashes scattered. A new stone memorial featuring an inscribed tribute to her remarkable life and work will be consecrated adjacent to the 1906 Earthquake Memorial she personally dedicated in 2006 in honor of those disaster victims originally recognized and the thousands more who were not.
In charge of the San Francisco Public Library California collection, Mrs. Hansen was appointed City Archivist by Mayor Joseph Alioto in 1972 and retired from city service in 1990. She worked tirelessly for 30 years as a researcher and author to rewrite the long-accepted story of the 1906 Earthquake. Through her efforts we have come to dramatically revise both the number of deceased and the political and economic history of the period.