On September 7th, Mr. Melvin Lee Hancock, age 76, waltzed right over to where the roses never fade. Melvin was a life- long resident, minus a few years, of Loughman and Davenport, Florida. Four and a half years ago adverse medical circumstances led both, Melvin, and his wife, Cathy Arnold Hancock, from their Central Florida way of life to Southwest Missouri. While Mel enjoyed his adventures in the Midwest, and he was grateful to experience the rugged beauty of the Ozarks, his heart and soul was forever steeped in Southern gospel traditions.
He greatly missed his Floridian roots, and the ways and days of his youth. He reminisced often about swimming at the local water hole, or roller skating with his best bud, Eugene; or climbing Sand Mountain in Mulberry with Miss Cathy.
These were the stories he told in his last years while living here in the Midwest. Melvin grew up in a small Florida town where the local families relied, almost exclusively, on the orange groves for their livelihoods. In his day, the area was full of rolling hills of orange, tangerine, and grapefruit trees, and miles upon miles of that super fine sugar sand. His daddy, George Godfrey Hancock, and his mama, Ella Fare Stewart Hancock, as well as most of the working community, worked at the Holly Hill packing plant, or in the groves managed by the plant.
George Hancock had a small orange grove on his property as well. Mel was born into a musical family. He was a multitalented musician.
He cut his teeth on the old gospel favorites at church. Through the years his voice became very rich and powerful. He sang, he played the acoustic guitar, the bass guitar, the mandolin, and he played the piano by ear. His daddy led the church choir at the small country baptist church in Loughman. His grandmother Stewart, and his mother, Ella Fare, played the piano at the church as well. He remembered being surrounded by extended family while growing up. He grew up where lots of cousins lived nearby.
