(Picture)

Patty Lou Farrens Hancock was born February 15, 1931, to Henry Miller Farrens and Maxine Carol Abbott Farrens in rural Burt County. She passed away peacefully at Crowell Memorial Home in Blair on December 4, 2024, at the age of 93. Services will be held at a later date.

Patty grew up on the Gumbo, but in 1945 her father moved to the hills Northwest of Tekamah. She graduated from Tekamah High School in 1949, and then attended Wayne State for one year and taught country school for two years. Patty married Richard E. Hancock on March 28, 1953, and was able to celebrate 54 years of marriage with Richard before his death in May 2017. To this union were born four children: Jacqueline, John, Joyce and Jeffrey.

Patty spent her life loving flowers. In the early ’40s she grew marigolds in tires but gave up the tires to the war effort only to have the chickens scratch up the marigolds. She also saved her nickel allowance to buy flowers. When she was 10 years old her grandmother Farrens died and her grandfather gave her a piece of her grandmother’s yellow “Old Harris” rose bush.

Patty and Richard (Dick) lived in Herman for five years after his return from Germany during a stint in the Army. In 1957 Patty joined the Tekamah Garden Club and in 1960 the Hancock family moved to the Hancock Home Farm on January 7th.

In 1963 Patty qualified to become a flower show judge and a landscape critic, gradually studying to become a Master Gardener. Patty was very active in several different organizations related to gardening. She served on the Nebraska Federated Garden Club Board starting in the early ’60s. She was State President from 1981-1983, National Board for ten years, starting in the ’70s, Rocky Mountain Regional Director from 1987-1989, District 13 Director of Federated Garden Clubs and Omaha Council President.

Patty also taught Sunday School at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Tekamah for three years, was Worthy Matron of the Herman Order of the Eastern Star at one time, belonged to the local Extension Club and served on the Board of NSA-Nebraska State Arboretum. In fact the Hancock Home Farm was a recognized privately owned State Arboretum.

Patty had another hobby and that was writing poetry. She wrote enough poems to have two small booklets published. She sold the booklets and used the proceeds for scholarships in the garden clubs she belonged to. Her parting thought is: “God grant me flowers now for my cutting basket because I sure won’t enjoy them on my casket.”

Patty is survived by children: Jackie Sterns (Jack), Joyce Top (Fred), Jeff Hancock (Cora) and daughter-in-law Sharon Hancock, 11 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. She is preceded in death by her parents Henry and Carol Farrens, husband Richard Hancock, son John Hancock, granddaughter Stephanie Vittitoe, great-granddaughter Sophia Biltoft and brother Vaughn Farrens.

Services by Campbell Aman Funeral Home, Blair, NE. www.campbellaman.com

~~~Obituaries courtesy of the Nebraska Washington County Genealogical Society. Newspaper clippings on file in the Blair, Nebraska Public Library~~~

Find a Grave Memorial #277092761