Helen P. Hanna

Helen P. Hanna, the third daughter of Frances and Charles Peddle, was born in Port Chester, New York, and grew up in Darien, Connecticut. She attended Goucher College in Baltimore, but left to join her parents in Japan while her father contributed to efforts to rebuild the country after World War II. Upon her return, she graduated from Katherine Gibbs School in Boston, and found a job as a secretary with the brand-new CIA in its temporary buildings on the National Mall in Washington, DC. There, she joined New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, where she sang in the choir and enjoyed the young adult group, and where she met G. Phillips (Phil) Hanna. They married in 1958, and had two children, Margaret (Meg) Hanna House and Stephen Phillips Hanna. 

Music was a source of joy for Helen. She sang alto with the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church choir for over 50 years, along with other regional choruses and singing groups. And her love of music was not limited to singing! She played cello in a regional orchestra for a time and early music on the recorder with friends. At home, classical music on the radio accompanied her daily routine – and she and Phil would sometimes play a game of “guess the composer.” Helen and her sister, Virginia (Ginge) Peddle, were famous in the family for breaking into song if even a few words from any number of songs cropped up in conversation. 

Helen was seldom happier than when she was physically active. She was a strong and graceful swimmer and, at different times in her life, enjoyed tennis, cycling, and water aerobics. She also raced sailboats with Phil on Deep Creek Lake in western Maryland. If nothing else, she walked … at a fast pace. Phil often joked that they would not have married if they had not both been very fast walkers. After Phil’s retirement in 1987, they rode bikes with the “Chain Gang,” a group of cycling enthusiasts they met at Deep Creek, and they joined cycling tours along the Danube and Rhein rivers. 

Helen longed to make a difference in people’s lives, and to that end she drove for Meals on Wheels for at least a decade. She also joined “The Celebration Singers,” a singing group that performed shows – complete with costumes and make-up – for nursing homes and special schools. 

Helen is survived by her husband of 66 years, Phil Hanna, as well as her daughter, Meg Hanna House (Doug) of Arlington, and son, Stephen Hanna (Sarah Dewees) of Fredericksburg. In addition, she is survived by three grandchildren, Virginia (Genna) House of Falls Church, Paige House of Buffalo, New York, and Simon Dewees-Hanna, currently attending Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. 

A memorial service will be held on Sunday, November 10, at 1 pm at New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, DC. 

Donations in Helen’s memory may be given to: 

New York Avenue Presbyterian Church - Music Fund 

1313 New York Avenue, NW, 

Washington DC 20005 

https://nyapc.org/give/

(select “general fund” and add “in memory of Helen Hanna” in comment box)