William Brett Hansen

William Brett "Brett" Hansen, of Elko and Starr Valley, Nevada, was born December 17, 1949, in Teton, Idaho, and spent his early years on the family farm in Eden, Idaho. He graduated from Wells High School in 1968, where he was an outstanding basketball player and a state champion middle-distance runner. He went on to attend the University of Utah on a full track scholarship and earned a degree in Baroque Spanish literature.

He later attended McGeorge School of Law at the University of the Pacific in Sacramento, where he graduated third in his class with highest honors. During law school he served as editor of the Owens Project and won two AmJur awards. After passing the Nevada Bar, he began a long career in the practice of law in Elko, Nevada.

Brett was remembered as someone who enjoyed fighting for truth, right and fairness, and as a master storyteller. He died at home on March 15, 2002, at the age of 53.