Serendipity After her five-year marriage ended, Jane remained single. She was living with her sister, Nancy, in Las Vegas when she got a phone call one memorable day in 1992. Bob Hanger was living on Sanibel Island, his wife had passed away, and he wanted Jane to come for a visit. “I had actually seen Bob a couple times over the years. I had even met his wife and two sons. So, I went to visit him again after he called.” Jane never returned to Las Vegas. Her sister got the house and she got the dog. She and Bob married in 1993 and lived on Sanibel. In 1996, Bob created an endowment fund at the University of Texas in the name of Jane and Tex. “At the time Tex coached me, it never came up to even need to pay him. Bob thought that a nice thing to do would be to make a scholarship to
At the age of 24, Jane retired from competitive swimming and began swimming professionally. The Aqua Follies show that she performed with for two years featured swimmers, divers, comedians, acrobats, singers, dancers, and a spectacular sound and light show.
the university in both of our names. Thus, the ‘Jane Dillard Hanger/Tex Robertson Endowed Presidential Scholarship’ was created for the benefit of Intercollegiate Athletics. It’s nice to know that we are able to help athletes get an education.” Bob and Jane lived on Sanibel, visiting their home in Maine each summer, until they moved to Shell Point. “He had always known he would move to Shell Point. We moved in January of 2003 and it has been wonderful!” Bob passed away after almost 20 years of wonderful marriage. “I don’t know what I would have done if I wasn’t at Shell Point,” she said. “It’s beautiful, convenient, clean, the people are nice, I have a darling home, and I have my little dachshund, Precious. It’s a lovely place to be.” Jane still spends time at their summer home in Maine. “The home is on a beautiful little lake, and I do quite a bit of swimming up there.” She also spends time with the family. “They are marvelous! Bob’s family has just accepted me as one of their own. I don’t know how I got so lucky! It has been a wonderful thing for me. I’m so glad I kept in touch with Bob over all of those years.” Jane’s life of swimming success and lasting love has given her countless memories that she will cherish forever. And, she continues to positively impact the lives of students through her scholarship at the University of Texas and the lives of the family she feels blessed to call her own.
Jane met Bob Hanger on a train in 1942. The exchanged contact information and kept in touch by sending Christmas cards throughout the years. They reunited in 1992 and were married by 1993. They shared 20 years of a wonderful marriage.
Shell Point Life | July 2012
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