Rev. Hancock

Rev. Edwin Ewing Hancock, age 101, of Washington, Iowa, died Wednesday, March 28, 2012 at the United Presbyterian Home. Celebration of life services will be held 11:00 a.m. Tuesday, April 3, 2012 at the United Presbyterian Church with Rev. Bob Wollenberg officiating. Visitation will begin 9:00 a.m. Tuesday at the United Presbyterian Church where the family will receive friends from 9:00 until 11:00 a.m. Interment will take place at a later date at the Verdon Cemetery in Verdon, Nebraska. Memorials have been established for Camp Wyoming, Hawkeye Boy Scouts or the American Heart Association. Online condolences may be sent for Ed's family through the web at www.jonesfh.com Edwin Ewing Hancock was born on August 19, 1910 at a farm home near Verdon, Nebraska, the son of Samuel Henry and Ella LuRee Delberta (Ewing) Hancock. In 1915, the family moved to an irrigated farm in the Lower Rio GrandeValley of Texas. He attended the Elementary School in San Juan and went to Junior High and High School near Pharr, Texas, where he graduated in May of 1929. He went on to Edinburgh Junior College at Edinburgh, Texas and transferred to Park College at Parkville, Missouri where he earned a BA degree in 1934. In 1937, he earned his Bachelor of Divinity Degree from the Presbyterian Theological Seminary at Omaha, Nebraska. He was ordained on January 31, 1937 at the Benson Presbyterian Church of Omaha, Nebraska. He then became a member of the Presbytery of Omaha. At Park College in the fall of 1931, he met Margaret Theresa Wright. They were married in the Seminary Chapel in Omaha on May 1, 1937 and this union lasted for fifty nine years and five months. During his Seminary days, he served a group of youth in West Benson, a suburb of Omaha. This group grew into a Sunday School, became an organized Chapel and grew to be an organized congregation, Trinity Presbyterian Church. After ordination, he served Pastorates in Luverne, Iowa; El Paso, Texas; and Primrose, Nebraska. In 1943 he was called to be Superintendent of a faltering institution, the Vera Lloyd Presbyterian Home for Children at Monticello, Arkansas. He served in Monticello until 1950. He then served Pastorates in Gainsville, Texas from 1950 until 1954 and in Greenville, Texas until 1958 at which time he was Moderator of the Presbytery of Dallas in Texas in 1956. His Pastorates continued in Iowa where he served Union Presbyterian Church in Lost Nation, Iowa from 1958 until 1968. In 1962 he was pastor delegate of the Synod of Iowa to a conference on "The Farmer and His Government" in Washington D.C. In 1961, he Co-Directed the first Junior High Summer Camp at Camp Wyoming at Wyoming, Iowa. He was Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Boston, Massachusetts in 1967. From 1961-1968 he was a member of the Synod of Iowa Committee for institutions serving older citizens. His last Pastorate was at Zalmona Presbyterian Church in Waukon, Iowa where he served from 1968 until 1976. He was a member of the Committee on Reorganization of the Presbytery of Northeast Iowa from 1974 to 1976. The result was the organization of the Presbytery of John Knox. He retired from the installed pastorate in July of 1976 and he and Margaret moved to Columbia, Missouri. From 1976 to 1986 he served six Interim Pastorates. In 1980, he served as Interim Administrator of the Presbyterian Camp Wyoming. In 1985, he and Margaret moved to Washington, Iowa and built a cottage at the United Presbyterian Home in 1986. His last Interim was as an Associate Pastor of the United Presbyterian Church in Washington, Iowa. Edwin was a life long member of the Boy Scouts where he began as a Lone Scout. He was tapped out as an Order of the Arrow in 1939. He has continued as Unit Commissioner to two Units in Washington, Iowa until he was in his nineties. He is now a 77 year Veteran Scouter. He is a member of the Presbytery of East Iowa, a regular attendee at the United Presbyterian Church, member of the Washington Optimist Club, and member of the Washington Masonic Lodge No. 26. Edwin enjoyed visiting with family and friends and was a proud past president of the Winga's Coffee Club. He enjoyed the fine arts offered at the Washington Community Theater and enjoyed participating in a variety of community activities. He is survived by son Hugh Earl Hancock of Mineola, Texas; daughter Susan Claire Noth and husband Robert of Bettendorf, Iowa; daughter Sarah Margaret Hancock of Spokane, Washington; daughter Eileen LuRee Mabee and husband Scott of Spokane, Washington; daughter Mary Mildred Wirch and husband Robert of Kenosha, Wisconsin; 13 grandchildren and 18 great grandchildren. Edwin was preceded in death by his parents, his wife in 1996, two brothers, Earl Hancock and Samuel Henry Hancock Jr.; and five sisters, Carolyn Klang, Maybel Hetrick, Nelle Spiker, Pearl Hancock and Mildred Cummings. The family would like to extend their thanks to the staff at the United Presbyterian Home and Brownlee Health Center as well as the staff of Hospice Compassus for their loving care.

Rev. Hancock

August 19, 1910 - March 28, 2012