When her father lived in North Dakota, he taught a class with a Native American pupil named "Arawan". Years later that rare, pretty name was given to baby girl Arawan at birth in Petersburg, Indiana on January 5, 1924.

Arawan's mother Alma was a hairdresser, her father Warner a teacher. Growing up during the Great Depression taught Arawan the necessity of grit, character and hard work. Not long after high school graduation she helped the U.S. war effort by working in an Evansville bullet production factory. Her penchant for hard work qualified her for her next jobs of farm wife and mother.

With her husband Milford and her first grader son she moved from "Downtown" Fort Branch to the farm in 1958. In addition to working farm fields, lifting 50 pound bags of fertilizer and seeds, and raising a son, she planned and cooked meals for family and farmhands. She was a self-taught talented cook who used beans, potatoes, peas, tomatoes, strawberries, etc. homegrown in her huge garden.

When Arawan and Milford retired from the farm and moved back into town, no one doubted she'd keep gardening and cooking. Many town residents appreciated the beauty of her flowers. When her son, daughter-in-law and two grandsons would visit from Minnesota, they devoured her fried chicken and handmade noodles.

Arawan had good, close friends and was very supportive of them. She also had a wonderful sense of humor. One of her favorite authors was James Thurber. She read voraciously, averaging one book per day. When she had read all of the books in the Fort Branch Library, she proceeded to read the contents of the Princeton Library.

In the final years of her life she moved to an apartment near Minneapolis minutes away from her immediate family. Minnesotans who met her liked her immediately. She never seemed to mind when people asked about her Hoosier accent. She knew that she didn't have an accent - they did. 

Arawan passed away at Methodist Hospital in St. Louis Park, Minnesota on Tuesday evening, December 5, 2017 at the age of 93. Arawan was a member of the Immanuel Lutheran Church in Evansville, Indiana. She was preceded in death by her sister Ruth Anna Resler, and her husband Milford Hacker who passed away on September 9, 1992.

Services will take place at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Evansville on Satuday, December 16, 2017. Visitation will be from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. with services at 11:00 a.m.