Jon Phillip Hancox

A Celebration of Life Service will be held on Friday, October 7th at 11:30am at First United Methodist Church in Claremore.

Jon Phillip Hancox, loving husband to Frances Hancox, sweet father to Julie Hancox Grossman, passed on Sunday, October 2nd, 2022.  He was seventy-five years young.
Phil was born in 1947 in Louisiana, Missouri to Elizabeth Wamsley Hancox and John Wesley Hancox.  He attended Louisiana Public Schools and graduated from high school in 1965.   During high school he was active in football, french club, “L” Club, and was a track manager.  After graduating he attended Rolla School of Mines for one year, then went on to University of Missouri for a year.  In 1967 he began working for Louisiana Hercules Chemical Works. In 1969  he enlisted in the Navy as a Navy Fireman, then worked as a mechanic on a fuel tanker, the USS Manatee.  During his time with the Navy he traveled to Sasebo, Japan, Hawaii, Philippines, Hong Kong, Viet Nam, and Yokosuka, Japan.  He met his wife, Frances Head  Hancox in 1972, and they married in 1973.  They built a home together in Louisiana, Missouri, and Phil did most of the construction. In 1980,  Phil began traveling as a journeyman millwright  throughout Iowa and Missouri. In 1982 he and his wife moved to Oologah, Oklahoma and eventually began   working for PSO as a maintenance mechanic.  He and his wife moved to Claremore in 1984, and had their beautiful daughter, Julie, in 1987.

Once in Claremore, Phil became a true servant of God and began volunteering and mentoring. He had a  passion for service and helping others. He volunteered with the Special Olympics through PSO.  When they started attending  St. Andrew’s United Methodist Church, he began  serving as a youth group leader, specifically a young men’s small group.  He drove the bus to church camp and lead small groups at Dayspring Church Camp, Camp Egan and other youth camps.  He would go above and beyond to help his young men, fondly known to this day as “Phil’s Boys”, transporting them to and from church so they could learn to know of God’s love for them.  He also helped with various other maintenance tasks around the church.  During this time not only did he volunteer at church and with his ”Boys”, he volunteered to supervise a crew of community service workers that were remodeling the Will Rogers Hotel in Claremore.  As his daughter got older he also chauffeured her and her dance team members to different competitions, and was well known as a Dancer Dad. Other volunteer work included  the Tulsa Boys Home for 10 years, going weekly to visit the boys and mentor them.  He helped with disaster clean up following the Joplin and Moore tornadoes, as well as other handy man work once he retired. When his family moved to First United Methodist Church he continued his service for God, and when he retired in 2014 from PSO he began helping with the food pantry a couple of times a week, washing dishes for the Bridge Service at FUMC, and serving in any other way he could.  He loved to work behind the scenes, and truly loved serving God in any capacity possible.

When his daughter went to The University of Tulsa for college, his love for TU sports greatly blossomed.  He and his wife never missed a football or basketball game while his daughter was in school, and they continue to get season tickets to both sports to this day.  He loved golfing with his golf buddies, loved watching the Cardinals play baseball, and couldn’t turn his eyes from the TV during March Madness.  He also loved fishing, mushroom hunting, working in his garden, traveling and spending time with his family. He had the best sense of humor, and couldn’t resist teasing those he loved most.

He is survived by his wife, Frances Hancox, daughter, Julie Hancox Grossman, her husband Sean,  brother Kirk Hancox, and his wife Sallie, cousin Willard Wamsley and wife Nellie and their children and grandchildren.   Phil was preceded in death by his mother, Elizabeth Wamsley Hancox, father, John Hancox, and youngest brother, Peter Craig Hancox.