Remembering Audrey Marie Brown Hancock

Audrey Marie (Brown) Hancock slipped away into the arms of Jesus in the early morning hours of June 3rd, 2025, in Sebring, Florida, with her two daughters by her side. She was 96 years old, born on Feb. 27, 1929. She grew up on Chokoloskee Island, where her grandparents, C.G. and Susan McKinney, were among the first settlers. As a child, she loved to run around the island barefooted, singing her heart out and eating "hog plums" and other tropical fruits that grew all over the island.  

She is predeceased by her parents, John and Alice Brown; her husband, Ira Dennis Hancock, Jr., and all of her siblings - Laberta Thompson and Bert, Totch, and Peg Brown. She is survived by her children, Angela (Tom) Mitchell of Lake Wales, Florida, Brad (Desta) Hancock of Gatesville, Texas, and Joy Hancock of Naples, Florida. She also leaves behind four beloved grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren, and seven great-great-grandchildren.  

In April of 1946, she traveled across the country by train to marry her husband, Dennis Hancock, in Seattle, Washington, where he was stationed in the U.S. Navy as WWII was nearing its end. Soon, they settled in the Everglades City area and raised a family. She was the school secretary for 23 years before retiring and moving to Lake Placid, Florida, in 1993. The family had begun vacationing in Lake Placid in the 1970s, and she dearly loved the area. She and her husband shared seven wonderful years there until he went on to be with the Lord in Dec. 2000. For a short while after that, she lived in Chokoloskee again, but realized her heart was still in Lake Placid so she returned to her residence there where she lived until she went to be with her Lord.  

She was a member of the Placid Temple Church of God. She volunteered at the hospital gift shop in Lake Placid for many years. She enjoyed crocheting, knitting, bird watching, reading, and yard work. She especially loved her caladiums, a colorful foliage plant, for which Lake Placid is known. She also enjoyed many trips to the Smoky Mountains to see the fall colors with one of her daughters.  

Audrey was patient, loving, and kind, always thinking of others before herself, and liked to believe the best about everyone. She was loved by all who knew her and will be deeply missed by her family and friends.  

A celebration of life was held on Saturday, June 7th, at her hometown church, Chokoloskee Family Church of God. She will be interred at the nearby family cemetery in a private burial, between her mother and grandparents.  

"Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints."  Psalms 116:15. 

"Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life:  he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die." John 11:25-26 (KJV).