John V. Hanson was born on October 23, 1944, and was raised in Northern Illinois. He graduated from McHenry High School, McHenry, Illinois in 1962. He earned a Bachelor’s degree from Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana in 1966 and a Juris Doctor degree from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri in 1969. After law school, he passed bar examinations in the States of Missouri and Illinois. He practiced for a brief period of time in St. Louis with the firm of Switzer and Switzer prior to moving to Morris, Illinois in October 1971. From 1971 to 1974, John served as Assistant States Attorney to the Honorable Richard R. Wilder, Grundy County States Attorney. He has been in private practice with his wife, Ellen C. Hanson, since moving to Morris. Their firm has been Hanson and Hanson, except for a brief period from 1974 to 1976, when they associated with Robert H. Adcock in the firm of Adcock and Hanson, Ltd.
John is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association and the Grundy County Bar Association. He is local counsel for Morris Hospital on real estate, business and non-healthcare issues and a member of the Illinois Association of Healthcare Attorneys. He has served as counsel for Erienna, Nettle Creek and Wauponsee Townships. He has been counsel for the Village of Gardner, Illinois, Nettle Creek School District 104 and Saratoga School District 60C. His current practice has gravitated to estate planning, probate, litigation of contested estates and trusts, real estate law and small business and corporate law.
John has served on the Board of Trustees of the Grundy County Housing Authority since 1988. He was elected Authority Chairman in 1990 and held that position until 2010. He currently serves as Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Authority and Secretary/Treasurer of its not-for-profit subsidiary, Grundy Development Corporation. He served on the Morris Hospital Board from 1980 to 1990 and was chairman of that board from 1986 to 1990. He is a member of the First United Methodist Church in Morris. He is a past master and member of Marseilles Masonic Lodge No. 417 John’s outside interests include hunting, blacksmithing, rifle building, tennis, cooking and gardening.
