Jim Hans, Artist And Founder Of Hoboken Historical Museum, Dies At 87

HOBOKEN, NJ — Jim Hans, who co -founded the Hoboken Historical Museum 37 years ago, passed away this week at age 87.

Hans was a painter, storyteller, and former business owner in the mile-square city.

The Museum said in a message on Tuesday, "We join the greater Hoboken community in mourning the passing of Jim Hans. We will be honoring Jim with a plaque at the museum. A remembrance ceremony with friends and family will be announced here and on our social media in the near future. We look forward to celebrating his life and sharing memories together."

Among his accomplishments, Hans published a book about the city, 100 Hoboken Firsts, through the museum in 2005.

In an article the following year in the Hudson Reporter, Hans said he first moved to Hoboken in 1966 when he was 30 years old. As a painter and aficionado of pop art, he and wife Beverly had been invited to see an art gallery here, and "fell in love" according to Beverly.

A former writer for Rolling Stone, Ed McCormack, told the Reporter, “He was headed for Warhol-esque fame. The only reason he’s not so well known is because he’s so eccentric. He has his own way of doing things.”

The Hans family ultimately lived in an old house on Third Street that's become known for its window displays and artifacts on the porch.

According to the Reporter story, the Hanses ran an antique shop on Newark Street called “The Hoboken Calendar Shop of Current Events.” Customers would regale them with old Hoboken stories, which he'd later recount.

“We learn from the past,” Hans told the Reporter . “It should be up there out front with everything else to keep people up on the way things go, the way things happen.”

Patch will add details of the remembrance ceremony when they are released.