Zane Milton Hanks was born February 19, 1930 at Kansas City, MO to Hugh Hanks and Marcella Barnett Hanks, who lived in Manhattan, Kansas where Zane spent his childhood growing up along with his only sibling, his older brother Billy.

Zane attended Manhattan High School and graduated in 1948 (one of his classmates was Earl Woods, father of Tiger Woods).  Zane's interests as a teenager was photography, playing the drumset his parents gave him, baseball, and listening to Jazz Bebop.

Zane was drafted into the Navy in 1948 right after high school and was sent to the Pacific Islands and Guam during the Korean War, working as an Inventory clerk on a refrigerator ship that serviced the combat ships.

In 1952, Zane was transferred to the Navy station in Astoria, Oregon.  He would come visit Portland on his times off from base, and would go watch the Jazz bands perform at the Jazz clubs (over by where Memorial Coliseum/Moda Center is today).  In 1957 he met Fern McCoy who was a secretary at the VA hospital.  They were married in February 1957 and moved to their home in North Portland.

Zane worked for Bonneville Power Administration for 25 years, retiring in 1985.  He continued his love for jazz music over the years, attending local and cruise Jazz festivals, volunteering time with Fern with the Jazz Society of Oregon's early founding years, and He and Fern opening a club for 8 years in Old Town Portland, the Jazz Nest.

Zane and Fern raised 3 boys.  He was a hard-working man who provided for his family.  Zane was "old school."  He tried his best to teach his boys what they would need to survive in the world, not to be "Hardheaded" and that he would quote "I will tear up your legs" if the boys wanted to test him!  Zane wasn't much of a talker, but he showed by example.  He also would always say grace for the family at the dinner table.  Sometimes he would quote the book of Matthew and say, "We all have a crux (stake) to carry," which to him meant we all have to carry our own load of burdens in this life.

Later in life, Zane and Fern enjoyed attending the "Lord's Evening Meal" of Jehovah's Witnesses, an annual memorial held on the anniversary of Jesus Christ's death, and learning about the Bible's promise of living in a new world under God's Kingdom.  After Zane had his heart attack in June 2018, he said while at the hospital "I'm ready for the New World."  He passed peacefully at his home on July 25, 2018, at the age of 88.

Zane was preceded in death by his wife Fern, and his brother Billy Hanks.

He is survived by his three sons, Michael, Laurence, and Stephen, and several cousins, nephews, and nieces.