Harry P. Hancock, Jr.

Harry P. Hancock, Jr., 85, of Naples, Florida passed away August 29, 2011.  He was born in 1926 in Roanoke, Virginia the son of Harry P. and Brownie Hill Hancock who predeceased him.  He and his college sweetheart, Martha Price was married in 1950 in Casablanca, Morocco, while he was employed by Atlas Construction.  They had one son, Harry Price Hancock.  Both his wife and his son predeceased him.

A graduate of Roanoke\"™s Jefferson High School, Harry took flight instruction from his cousin, Martha Anne Woodrum, and soloed at the age of 16. Following service in the Army Air Corps during WWII he attended Virginia Tech and graduated with a BS in Management and Economics in 1950.  While attending Tech he worked part time as a commercial pilot and flight instructor with Woodrum Flying Service in Roanoke, Virginia.

He was employed by the Singer Company for 22 years and retired as Vice President of Human Resources for the Singer Aerospace Group.  He lived in Westport, Connecticut from 1965 to 2005 before moving to Naples, Florida.

Prior to joining the Singer Company he was employed by the Glen L. Martin Company, Raytheon and I.T.T., and as an international management consultant with Booz Allen Hamilton, Ltd.

After his retirement from Singer in 1989, Harry served as a volunteer consultant with the Executive Service Corps in New York City, and was a volunteer consultant with the Naples Philharmonic Center for the Arts in Naples, Florida.  He was a member of Trinity by the Cove Episcopal Church, a Mason, the Sons of American Revolution, the Experimental Aircraft Association, and a member of the Virginia Tech Foundation\"™s Legacy Society.

Harry\"™s lifelong involvement with and fondness for aviation and the aviation industry influenced him to build and fly his own experimental aircraft in 1989.  He was an expert horseman and won a number of ribbons in various horse shows. He was also interested in antique automobiles.

He is survived by his niece, with whom he was raised, Mary Virginia Austin of Norfolk, Virginia, and by a nephew, Henry Wagner, Jr. of Austin, Texas and a niece, Gretchen W. Bunn of Denver, Colorado.  He is also survived by his cousins, Clifton A. Woodrum, III and M. Lanier Woodrum, both of Roanoke and by numerous friends.

A Graveside service will be conducted at 11:00 A.M., Thursday, September 15, 2011, in the Hancock Family plot at Longwood Cemetery, Bedford Virginia. To send condolences online please visit www.obituaries.tharpfuneralhome.com. Arragements by Tharp Funeral Home & Crematory, Bedford, (540)-586-3443.