Hancock has served as coordinator of athletic media relations, overseeing OSU's men's basketball since October 1996. He was a passenger in one of three planes carrying the OSU team back to Stillwater after a Saturday afternoon game in Boulder against the University of Colorado. The plane left the Jefferson County Airport in Broomfield, which is between Denver and Boulder, at about 6 p.m. After flying east for about 35 minutes, the plane crashed during a light snowstorm into a remote field north of Interstate 70 near Byers.
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William Ransom Hancock, III, 31, of Stillwater, OK, died January 27, 2001 near Denver, CO. Mr. Hancock was born in Norman, OK on April 6, 1969 to William Ransom Hancock Jr. and Nickola Kay (Perry) Hancock. He married Karen Elaine Horstman, June 15, 1996 in Tulsa, OK. Mr. Hancock attended school in Hobart, OK and Shawnee Mission East in Prairie Village, KS before finishing his education at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, KS. He worked as an intern with the Kansas City Royals, as Assistant Sports Information Director at the University of Arkansas-Little Rock, and Director of Communications for the Midwestern Collegiate Conference in Indianapolis, IN before joining the OSU staff as Media Relations Coordinator 5 years ago. Mr. Hancock worked primarily in men's basketball and men's golf and was highly regarded in his field. Two years ago he was voted the best basketball publicist in District Five, the Big 12 and Missouri Valley Conferences are included, by the United States Basketball Writers Association. Mr. Hancock was a musician, a writer and humorist. He loved Mahler and Shakespeare, U-2 and Tom Clancy, The Simpsons and the X-Files. He and his family enjoyed many great times, such as hiking the Grand Canyon, playing golf at Pebble Beach, witnessing the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, climbing Long's Peak and watching their favorite movie, "It's a Wonderful Life." Mr. Hancock was a Press Officer for the United States Olympic Committee at the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Manitoba and the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. He was predeceased by: his grandparents, Johnny Perry and Ransom and Annie B. Hancock, all of Hobart, OK. He is survived by: his wife, Karen Hancock of the home; his parents, William Ransom Hancock, Jr. and Nickola Hancock of Prairie Village, KS; daughter, Andrea Bailey Hancock of Stillwater, OK; brother, Nathan Hancock and his wife, Kristin of Hamden, CT. He is also survived by: his grandmother, Nellie Perry of Hobart, OK; aunts and uncles, Jim and Diana Perry of Claremore, OK, Allison and Javier Madrid of Puebla, Mexico, Catherine and Sedg Mead of St. Louis, MO, Joe and Neville Hancock of Hobart, OK and Jennie Carpenter of Bloomsburg, PA; 14 first cousins; Karen's parents, Steve and Linda Horstman of Broken Arrow, OK; and Karen's sister and brother-in- law, Kathy and Chris Moore of Norman, OK. Service was held at First United Methodist Church with the Reverend Stanley M. Warfield, Jr. presiding. Memorials to Will Hancock Memorial, c/o OSU Foundation, 100-H Student Union, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078. Strode Funeral Home.
(Published in the Tulsa World, Feb. 6, 2001)
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Will Hancock's life itself was an ode to joy. The power and beauty of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony was a common theme throughout Monday's service that bade goodbye to a cherished friend, brother, son, husband and father. Long after the service had ended, Hancock's faith, his devotion to family, his love of sports -- his life itself -- echoed in the minds of the 1,500 mourners in attendance, just like the strains of his favorite piece of music. Hancock, who died in a Jan. 27 airplane crash at age 31, was the media coordinator for men's basketball at Oklahoma State University. Nine other men were killed in the accident. Hancock was the last of that ill-fated party to be laid to rest. In a 1-hour, 45-minute service, Hancock was eulogized by OSU President James Halligan, three friends, a cousin, his brother Nate and his father, Bill. Among those in attendance at First United Methodist Church (the service was simulcast to nearby St. Francis Catholic Church) were Lt. Gov. Mary Fallin, OSU basketball coach Eddie Sutton, OSU football coach Les Miles, former University of Oklahoma football coach Barry Switzer, OU athletic director Joe Castiglione and the entire OSU women's soccer team, of which Hancock's widow, Karen, is the head coach. "All who are associated with Oklahoma State athletics know we are recognized or our excellence in sports media. A significant contributor to that was Will Hancock," Halligan said. Before the service Karen Hancock received an official Oklaho ma state flag from a representative of Gov. Frank Keating's; it had flown at half-staff above the Capitol on Jan. 31 in remembrance of Hancock. Will Hancock grew up a Sooner -- his father was the assistant sports information director at OU during the Switzer years -- but he graduated a University of Kansas Jayhawk and later worked as an OSU Cowboy. "I can't think of any words that could make me more proud than, `I'm Will's dad,' " said Bill Hancock. "He was a special child." Hancock married Karen Horstman in 1996, and on Nov. 16, 2000, became a proud father to Andrea "Andie" Bailey Hancock. "Karen was the apple of his eye, and when Andie came along, he was incredibly proud the day she was born," Halligan said. Longtime friend John May said Hancock "embodied and cherished sportsmanship," and he remembered how, year-after- year, he would draft the Cubs' Ryne Sandberg in their annual fantasy baseball draft, even though Sandberg had retired years earlier. May also remembered his first meeting with Hancock in seventh-grade band in the Shawnee Mission school district in Kansas, when he would bombard the class with endless renditions of "Boomer Sooner." When it came to music, however, classical was at the top of the list, especially "Ode to Joy." Nate Hancock recalled reviling his older brother for playing classical music so early in the mornings -- his "alarm clock." "One of the pieces he blasted . . . was Beethoven's Ninth Symphony," Nate Hancock said. Said May: "Beethoven's Ninth Symphony was his favorite because his theme was ode to joy. Will was happy; he shared his happiness with others."
(Tulsa World, John E. Hoover, Writer, Feb. 6, 2001)
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William Ransom Hancock, III, 31, of Stillwater, OK, died January 27, 2001 near Denver, CO. Mr. Hancock was born in Norman, OK on April 6, 1969 to William Ransom Hancock Jr. and Nickola Kay (Perry) Hancock. He married Karen Elaine Horstman, June 15, 1996 in Tulsa, OK. Mr. Hancock attended school in Hobart, OK and Shawnee Mission East in Prairie Village, KS before finishing his education at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, KS. He worked as an intern with the Kansas City Royals, as Assistant Sports Information Director at the University of Arkansas-Little Rock, and Director of Communications for the Midwestern Collegiate Conference in Indianapolis, IN before joining the OSU staff as Media Relations Coordinator 5 years ago. Mr. Hancock worked primarily in men's basketball and men's golf and was highly regarded in his field. Two years ago he was voted the best basketball publicist in District Five, the Big 12 and Missouri Valley Conferences are included, by the United States Basketball Writers Association. Mr. Hancock was a musician, a writer and humorist. He loved Mahler and Shakespeare, U-2 and Tom Clancy, The Simpsons and the X-Files. He and his family enjoyed many great times, such as hiking the Grand Canyon, playing golf at Pebble Beach, witnessing the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, climbing Long's Peak and watching their favorite movie, "It's a Wonderful Life." Mr. Hancock was a Press Officer for the United States Olympic Committee at the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Manitoba and the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. He was predeceased by: his grandparents, Johnny Perry and Ransom and Annie B. Hancock, all of Hobart, OK. He is survived by: his wife, Karen Hancock of the home; his parents, William Ransom Hancock, Jr. and Nickola Hancock of Prairie Village, KS; daughter, Andrea Bailey Hancock of Stillwater, OK; brother, Nathan Hancock and his wife, Kristin of Hamden, CT. He is also survived by: his grandmother, Nellie Perry of Hobart, OK; aunts and uncles, Jim and Diana Perry of Claremore, OK, Allison and Javier Madrid of Puebla, Mexico, Catherine and Sedg Mead of St. Louis, MO, Joe and Neville Hancock of Hobart, OK and Jennie Carpenter of Bloomsburg, PA; 14 first cousins; Karen's parents, Steve and Linda Horstman of Broken Arrow, OK; and Karen's sister and brother-in- law, Kathy and Chris Moore of Norman, OK. Service was held at First United Methodist Church with the Reverend Stanley M. Warfield, Jr. presiding. Memorials to Will Hancock Memorial, c/o OSU Foundation, 100-H Student Union, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078. Strode Funeral Home.
(Published in the Tulsa World, Feb. 6, 2001)
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Will Hancock's life itself was an ode to joy. The power and beauty of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony was a common theme throughout Monday's service that bade goodbye to a cherished friend, brother, son, husband and father. Long after the service had ended, Hancock's faith, his devotion to family, his love of sports -- his life itself -- echoed in the minds of the 1,500 mourners in attendance, just like the strains of his favorite piece of music. Hancock, who died in a Jan. 27 airplane crash at age 31, was the media coordinator for men's basketball at Oklahoma State University. Nine other men were killed in the accident. Hancock was the last of that ill-fated party to be laid to rest. In a 1-hour, 45-minute service, Hancock was eulogized by OSU President James Halligan, three friends, a cousin, his brother Nate and his father, Bill. Among those in attendance at First United Methodist Church (the service was simulcast to nearby St. Francis Catholic Church) were Lt. Gov. Mary Fallin, OSU basketball coach Eddie Sutton, OSU football coach Les Miles, former University of Oklahoma football coach Barry Switzer, OU athletic director Joe Castiglione and the entire OSU women's soccer team, of which Hancock's widow, Karen, is the head coach. "All who are associated with Oklahoma State athletics know we are recognized or our excellence in sports media. A significant contributor to that was Will Hancock," Halligan said. Before the service Karen Hancock received an official Oklaho ma state flag from a representative of Gov. Frank Keating's; it had flown at half-staff above the Capitol on Jan. 31 in remembrance of Hancock. Will Hancock grew up a Sooner -- his father was the assistant sports information director at OU during the Switzer years -- but he graduated a University of Kansas Jayhawk and later worked as an OSU Cowboy. "I can't think of any words that could make me more proud than, `I'm Will's dad,' " said Bill Hancock. "He was a special child." Hancock married Karen Horstman in 1996, and on Nov. 16, 2000, became a proud father to Andrea "Andie" Bailey Hancock. "Karen was the apple of his eye, and when Andie came along, he was incredibly proud the day she was born," Halligan said. Longtime friend John May said Hancock "embodied and cherished sportsmanship," and he remembered how, year-after- year, he would draft the Cubs' Ryne Sandberg in their annual fantasy baseball draft, even though Sandberg had retired years earlier. May also remembered his first meeting with Hancock in seventh-grade band in the Shawnee Mission school district in Kansas, when he would bombard the class with endless renditions of "Boomer Sooner." When it came to music, however, classical was at the top of the list, especially "Ode to Joy." Nate Hancock recalled reviling his older brother for playing classical music so early in the mornings -- his "alarm clock." "One of the pieces he blasted . . . was Beethoven's Ninth Symphony," Nate Hancock said. Said May: "Beethoven's Ninth Symphony was his favorite because his theme was ode to joy. Will was happy; he shared his happiness with others."
(Tulsa World, John E. Hoover, Writer, Feb. 6, 2001)
Hancock has served as coordinator of athletic media relations, overseeing OSU's men's basketball since October 1996. He was a passenger in one of three planes carrying the OSU team back to Stillwater after a Saturday afternoon game in Boulder against the University of Colorado. The plane left the Jefferson County Airport in Broomfield, which is between Denver and Boulder, at about 6 p.m. After flying east for about 35 minutes, the plane crashed during a light snowstorm into a remote field north of Interstate 70 near Byers.
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William Ransom Hancock, III, 31, of Stillwater, OK, died January 27, 2001 near Denver, CO. Mr. Hancock was born in Norman, OK on April 6, 1969 to William Ransom Hancock Jr. and Nickola Kay (Perry) Hancock. He married Karen Elaine Horstman, June 15, 1996 in Tulsa, OK. Mr. Hancock attended school in Hobart, OK and Shawnee Mission East in Prairie Village, KS before finishing his education at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, KS. He worked as an intern with the Kansas City Royals, as Assistant Sports Information Director at the University of Arkansas-Little Rock, and Director of Communications for the Midwestern Collegiate Conference in Indianapolis, IN before joining the OSU staff as Media Relations Coordinator 5 years ago. Mr. Hancock worked primarily in men's basketball and men's golf and was highly regarded in his field. Two years ago he was voted the best basketball publicist in District Five, the Big 12 and Missouri Valley Conferences are included, by the United States Basketball Writers Association. Mr. Hancock was a musician, a writer and humorist. He loved Mahler and Shakespeare, U-2 and Tom Clancy, The Simpsons and the X-Files. He and his family enjoyed many great times, such as hiking the Grand Canyon, playing golf at Pebble Beach, witnessing the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, climbing Long's Peak and watching their favorite movie, "It's a Wonderful Life." Mr. Hancock was a Press Officer for the United States Olympic Committee at the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Manitoba and the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. He was predeceased by: his grandparents, Johnny Perry and Ransom and Annie B. Hancock, all of Hobart, OK. He is survived by: his wife, Karen Hancock of the home; his parents, William Ransom Hancock, Jr. and Nickola Hancock of Prairie Village, KS; daughter, Andrea Bailey Hancock of Stillwater, OK; brother, Nathan Hancock and his wife, Kristin of Hamden, CT. He is also survived by: his grandmother, Nellie Perry of Hobart, OK; aunts and uncles, Jim and Diana Perry of Claremore, OK, Allison and Javier Madrid of Puebla, Mexico, Catherine and Sedg Mead of St. Louis, MO, Joe and Neville Hancock of Hobart, OK and Jennie Carpenter of Bloomsburg, PA; 14 first cousins; Karen's parents, Steve and Linda Horstman of Broken Arrow, OK; and Karen's sister and brother-in- law, Kathy and Chris Moore of Norman, OK. Service was held at First United Methodist Church with the Reverend Stanley M. Warfield, Jr. presiding. Memorials to Will Hancock Memorial, c/o OSU Foundation, 100-H Student Union, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078. Strode Funeral Home.
(Published in the Tulsa World, Feb. 6, 2001)
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Will Hancock's life itself was an ode to joy. The power and beauty of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony was a common theme throughout Monday's service that bade goodbye to a cherished friend, brother, son, husband and father. Long after the service had ended, Hancock's faith, his devotion to family, his love of sports -- his life itself -- echoed in the minds of the 1,500 mourners in attendance, just like the strains of his favorite piece of music. Hancock, who died in a Jan. 27 airplane crash at age 31, was the media coordinator for men's basketball at Oklahoma State University. Nine other men were killed in the accident. Hancock was the last of that ill-fated party to be laid to rest. In a 1-hour, 45-minute service, Hancock was eulogized by OSU President James Halligan, three friends, a cousin, his brother Nate and his father, Bill. Among those in attendance at First United Methodist Church (the service was simulcast to nearby St. Francis Catholic Church) were Lt. Gov. Mary Fallin, OSU basketball coach Eddie Sutton, OSU football coach Les Miles, former University of Oklahoma football coach Barry Switzer, OU athletic director Joe Castiglione and the entire OSU women's soccer team, of which Hancock's widow, Karen, is the head coach. "All who are associated with Oklahoma State athletics know we are recognized or our excellence in sports media. A significant contributor to that was Will Hancock," Halligan said. Before the service Karen Hancock received an official Oklaho ma state flag from a representative of Gov. Frank Keating's; it had flown at half-staff above the Capitol on Jan. 31 in remembrance of Hancock. Will Hancock grew up a Sooner -- his father was the assistant sports information director at OU during the Switzer years -- but he graduated a University of Kansas Jayhawk and later worked as an OSU Cowboy. "I can't think of any words that could make me more proud than, `I'm Will's dad,' " said Bill Hancock. "He was a special child." Hancock married Karen Horstman in 1996, and on Nov. 16, 2000, became a proud father to Andrea "Andie" Bailey Hancock. "Karen was the apple of his eye, and when Andie came along, he was incredibly proud the day she was born," Halligan said. Longtime friend John May said Hancock "embodied and cherished sportsmanship," and he remembered how, year-after- year, he would draft the Cubs' Ryne Sandberg in their annual fantasy baseball draft, even though Sandberg had retired years earlier. May also remembered his first meeting with Hancock in seventh-grade band in the Shawnee Mission school district in Kansas, when he would bombard the class with endless renditions of "Boomer Sooner." When it came to music, however, classical was at the top of the list, especially "Ode to Joy." Nate Hancock recalled reviling his older brother for playing classical music so early in the mornings -- his "alarm clock." "One of the pieces he blasted . . . was Beethoven's Ninth Symphony," Nate Hancock said. Said May: "Beethoven's Ninth Symphony was his favorite because his theme was ode to joy. Will was happy; he shared his happiness with others."
(Tulsa World, John E. Hoover, Writer, Feb. 6, 2001)
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William Ransom Hancock, III, 31, of Stillwater, OK, died January 27, 2001 near Denver, CO. Mr. Hancock was born in Norman, OK on April 6, 1969 to William Ransom Hancock Jr. and Nickola Kay (Perry) Hancock. He married Karen Elaine Horstman, June 15, 1996 in Tulsa, OK. Mr. Hancock attended school in Hobart, OK and Shawnee Mission East in Prairie Village, KS before finishing his education at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, KS. He worked as an intern with the Kansas City Royals, as Assistant Sports Information Director at the University of Arkansas-Little Rock, and Director of Communications for the Midwestern Collegiate Conference in Indianapolis, IN before joining the OSU staff as Media Relations Coordinator 5 years ago. Mr. Hancock worked primarily in men's basketball and men's golf and was highly regarded in his field. Two years ago he was voted the best basketball publicist in District Five, the Big 12 and Missouri Valley Conferences are included, by the United States Basketball Writers Association. Mr. Hancock was a musician, a writer and humorist. He loved Mahler and Shakespeare, U-2 and Tom Clancy, The Simpsons and the X-Files. He and his family enjoyed many great times, such as hiking the Grand Canyon, playing golf at Pebble Beach, witnessing the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, climbing Long's Peak and watching their favorite movie, "It's a Wonderful Life." Mr. Hancock was a Press Officer for the United States Olympic Committee at the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Manitoba and the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. He was predeceased by: his grandparents, Johnny Perry and Ransom and Annie B. Hancock, all of Hobart, OK. He is survived by: his wife, Karen Hancock of the home; his parents, William Ransom Hancock, Jr. and Nickola Hancock of Prairie Village, KS; daughter, Andrea Bailey Hancock of Stillwater, OK; brother, Nathan Hancock and his wife, Kristin of Hamden, CT. He is also survived by: his grandmother, Nellie Perry of Hobart, OK; aunts and uncles, Jim and Diana Perry of Claremore, OK, Allison and Javier Madrid of Puebla, Mexico, Catherine and Sedg Mead of St. Louis, MO, Joe and Neville Hancock of Hobart, OK and Jennie Carpenter of Bloomsburg, PA; 14 first cousins; Karen's parents, Steve and Linda Horstman of Broken Arrow, OK; and Karen's sister and brother-in- law, Kathy and Chris Moore of Norman, OK. Service was held at First United Methodist Church with the Reverend Stanley M. Warfield, Jr. presiding. Memorials to Will Hancock Memorial, c/o OSU Foundation, 100-H Student Union, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078. Strode Funeral Home.
(Published in the Tulsa World, Feb. 6, 2001)
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Will Hancock's life itself was an ode to joy. The power and beauty of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony was a common theme throughout Monday's service that bade goodbye to a cherished friend, brother, son, husband and father. Long after the service had ended, Hancock's faith, his devotion to family, his love of sports -- his life itself -- echoed in the minds of the 1,500 mourners in attendance, just like the strains of his favorite piece of music. Hancock, who died in a Jan. 27 airplane crash at age 31, was the media coordinator for men's basketball at Oklahoma State University. Nine other men were killed in the accident. Hancock was the last of that ill-fated party to be laid to rest. In a 1-hour, 45-minute service, Hancock was eulogized by OSU President James Halligan, three friends, a cousin, his brother Nate and his father, Bill. Among those in attendance at First United Methodist Church (the service was simulcast to nearby St. Francis Catholic Church) were Lt. Gov. Mary Fallin, OSU basketball coach Eddie Sutton, OSU football coach Les Miles, former University of Oklahoma football coach Barry Switzer, OU athletic director Joe Castiglione and the entire OSU women's soccer team, of which Hancock's widow, Karen, is the head coach. "All who are associated with Oklahoma State athletics know we are recognized or our excellence in sports media. A significant contributor to that was Will Hancock," Halligan said. Before the service Karen Hancock received an official Oklaho ma state flag from a representative of Gov. Frank Keating's; it had flown at half-staff above the Capitol on Jan. 31 in remembrance of Hancock. Will Hancock grew up a Sooner -- his father was the assistant sports information director at OU during the Switzer years -- but he graduated a University of Kansas Jayhawk and later worked as an OSU Cowboy. "I can't think of any words that could make me more proud than, `I'm Will's dad,' " said Bill Hancock. "He was a special child." Hancock married Karen Horstman in 1996, and on Nov. 16, 2000, became a proud father to Andrea "Andie" Bailey Hancock. "Karen was the apple of his eye, and when Andie came along, he was incredibly proud the day she was born," Halligan said. Longtime friend John May said Hancock "embodied and cherished sportsmanship," and he remembered how, year-after- year, he would draft the Cubs' Ryne Sandberg in their annual fantasy baseball draft, even though Sandberg had retired years earlier. May also remembered his first meeting with Hancock in seventh-grade band in the Shawnee Mission school district in Kansas, when he would bombard the class with endless renditions of "Boomer Sooner." When it came to music, however, classical was at the top of the list, especially "Ode to Joy." Nate Hancock recalled reviling his older brother for playing classical music so early in the mornings -- his "alarm clock." "One of the pieces he blasted . . . was Beethoven's Ninth Symphony," Nate Hancock said. Said May: "Beethoven's Ninth Symphony was his favorite because his theme was ode to joy. Will was happy; he shared his happiness with others."
(Tulsa World, John E. Hoover, Writer, Feb. 6, 2001)
Bio by: MillieBelle
