Tech expert used skills to aid others

12/3/2002

BOWLING GREEN - Bradley R. Hanna, 48, a technical supervisor for Video Outpost/Skylink and a member of the Bowling Green State University Falcon Club, died of cancer Sunday.

Mr. Hanna grew up in North Baltimore and played basketball and golf at the high school. He was also an active Eagle Scout. Family and friends described him as devoted to his wife Rachel and daughter Chasity. Mr. Hanna was also an avid golfer.

“He was very easy going and loved golf,” Douglas Hanna, his brother, said. “He loved his wife and his daughter and really enjoyed life. He just enjoyed being outside. He liked competing and he loved the challenge of the game.”

Roy Clark, a close friend of Bradley Hanna since childhood, said Mr. Hanna was a natural on the golf links, with a strong, consistent swing that allowed him to drive balls past many of his opponents.

“He wasn't the biggest person in the world or the tallest, but he could hit a golf ball a mile,” said Mr. Clark, vice president of Barney's Convenience Stores in Bowling Green. “I think he enjoyed it so much because he was just good at it.

“It wasn't often, but if I would beat him a game or two or even out-drive him, I would kid him like crazy,” he said.

Mr. Clark said Bradley Hanna believed in helping people and used his expertise in electronics and building things to help friends and relatives.

“He was always there for you,” Mr. Clark said. “We just had our 30th [high school] class reunion this summer, right before we found out he was sick.

“I'm getting this outpouring from classmates wanting to know how they can help, because they know how he was there for everyone else,” he said.

Bradley Hanna worked for the Video Post/Skylink in Findlay for the past 19 years.

“It started out as just a place to rent videos,” Douglas Hanna said. “They opened up a second store and he ran the north store. Later he got into TV and VCR repairs and pretty much got their audio and television business up and running.”

He was also a member of the BGSU Falcon Club, Bowling Green Country Club, and Elks Lodge No. 818. He had studied at Bowling Green State and Owens Community College.

Douglas Hanna said his brother was diagnosed with cancer in the esophagus in August.

Surviving are his wife, Rachel; daughter, Chasity Canfield; parents, Marcus and Virginia Hanna; and brother Douglas.

The body will be at Dunn Funeral Home, Bowling Green, after 2 p.m. today. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow at Trinity United Methodist Church, in Bowling Green. The family requests tributes to Bridge Home Health and Hospice or Trinity United Methodist.