[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 134 (Friday, July 30, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E859]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      HONORING VERNON RAY HANCOCK

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                        HON. H. MORGAN GRIFFITH

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 30, 2021

  Mr. GRIFFITH. Madam Speaker, I rise in honor of Vernon Ray Hancock, 
who died on June 19, 2021, at the age of 94. Mr. Hancock served nearly 
30 years as the Math Department Chair at Emory & Henry College and made 
a remarkable impact on the students and the university.
  Mr. Hancock was born on July 10, 1926, in Baltimore, Maryland to 
Wheeler Hancock & Rebecca Helm Hancock. In 1943, Mr. Hancock enlisted 
in the United States Army. After graduating high school, the Army sent 
him to Virginia Polytechnic Institute for engineering classes. 
Following WWII, he went on to work as a clerk typist in France and was 
later honorably discharged in December 1946 with the rank of Tech 4. 
Mr. Hancock received his graduate degree in math at Johns Hopkins 
University and his doctorate at Tulane University. Years later, Mr. 
Hancock returned to the Commonwealth and settled in to make Virginia 
his life-long home.
  Mr. Hancock married Ruth Eileen Farnham in 1950, and the two of them 
were inseparable as they volunteered together in their community. 
Throughout his life, both Mr. and Mrs. Hancock were active members of 
the United Methodist Church. From his appointment at Emory & Henry in 
1963 until after his retirement in 1991, Mr. Hancock remained an active 
member of the academic and service community. He saw his life mission 
was to serve those around him and he found great joy in this selfless 
service to his community. Together with his wife, they served with the 
Boy Scouts of America, chartered the Pi Omicron chapter of the Alpha 
Phi Omega Service Fraternity at Emory (of which I was Member), and they 
were also heavily involved in the Washington County Republican Party. I 
personally knew Mr. Hancock when he was my Faculty Advisor to the Emory 
& Henry College Republicans and through his decades of work with the 
Republican Party.
  Mr. Hancock is survived by his 2 sons; Dale and his wife Nancy, Clark 
and his wife Frances; his granddaughter, Bethany; and numerous nieces 
and nephews. I offer them my condolences on their loss.

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