Larry Hancock

After heart surgery in July and a brief illness, Larry Hancock, of Bermuda Run NC, slipped away peacefully at the Kate Reynolds Hospice & Palliative Care Center in Winston-Salem NC, early on Tuesday August 29, 2017.
Larry was born on April 1, 1935 in Winston-Salem NC to the late Otis & Pat Hancock. He was preceded in death by his parents Otis and Pat, and by his sister Bonnie.
Surviving Larry is his wife of 42 years, and the love of his life, Janet Moser Hancock; son Robert Eugene Hancock of Winston-Salem NC; daughter Kelly Gray Hancock of Winston-Salem NC; brother Michael Glen Hancock and Mike's wife Nettie of Clearwater FL; sister Bonnie Hancock Hege's husband Grady Hege of Pfafftown NC; sister Cathy Hancock Kirkland and Cathy's husband Jack of Huntersville NC and many many cousins, nieces and nephews.
Larry was a lifelong member of the Mt Pleasant United Methodist Church in Walkertown NC and was a member of the first Boy Scout troupe formed there in the late 40s.
A graduate of Mineral Springs High School, Larry was a member of the school band playing the trombone and he was one of the few entrusted with driving a school bus.
After graduation, Larry served with honors in the Signal Corps of the US Army in Korea, the forgotten war.
After the Army, Larry went to work for the Norfolk and Western Railroad alongside his father Otis. From there Larry went to work in 1958 for Long Engineering Inc., a regional engineering services company founded by Matt Long Jr. in 1949. Starting from the bottom, Larry rose though ranks of sales and product/program management to eventually partner with Guy Rudisill to acquire the company in late 80s. Larry and Guy quickly grew the company into a national electronics and communications services company, eventually rebranding the firm as Long Communications Inc. During this period the firm took on their own business aircraft which Larry used to pilot himself and his colleagues and clients around the country pursing opportunities, thus allowing him to fulfill his lifelong love of aviation. Larry also sat on the boards of several audio/communications corporations. After more than ten years of constant and rapid growth, in 1999 the company was acquired by Tyco Inc. Larry and Guy remained on as consultants during the company's transition to this global corporate giant.
Somewhere along the line, Larry also became a member of the Masons, the details of which by tradition is still a secret he shared with no one but his fellow Masons.
So one would think that Larry perhaps deserved a restful and leisurely retirement watching the grass grow and catching up on that reading he'd put aside for years. Well that didn't happen and Larry right away began to focus on some of his former part time passions, principally gin rummy, golf, racing and collecting and restoring vintage and one-of-a-kind autos. Larry actually did win several gin rummy tournaments (rumor has it that he occasionally had to back up his hand with a friendly wager), built race cars and competed in many "Gentlemen" racing events, restored some wonderful ole autos, served as Chairman of Communications for the Bing Crosby celebrity golf tournament for the 16 years that the event was held at Bermuda Run and he played golf every day that he could. And by the way, Larry also found time to dabble in land development, something he had long dreamed of as well.
So after 82 years, Larry's wonderful story and his time on earth has come to a close. Janet and her/Larry's family plan to host a Celebration of Life gathering at a later date to be announced. All those whose path intersected with this rare and unique man who was Larry Hancock, are invited to attend.
In lieu of flowers, please consider donating in the memory of Larry to the wonderful facility at the "Kate Reynolds Hospice & Palliative Care Center, 101 Hospice Lane, Winston-Salem NC 27103".
The entire family would also like to extend a special thanks to Larry's brother-in-law Bill Moser and his wife Dianne Moser, Alan Giles, John Lyda, Guy Rudisill and Tommy Fleming, for all of their support to Janet during this trying time. Your efforts did not go unnoticed.
And lastly in his final days as family and friends came by to visit, Larry said to everyone with a twinkle in his eye, "I'll see you on the other side". May we all be blessed with the opportunity to say goodbye as Larry did.