Barbara Hancock

Our dear mother, Barbara Jean Hancock, 79, of Orem, Utah, passed away peacefully in her home on the morning of Tuesday, March 28, 2023. She joins her beloved husband, Eugene Merrill Hancock, who preceded her in death on December 15, 2015.

Barbara was born February 1, 1944, in Salt Lake City to Ruth May Jacobson and Earl Harris Anderson. At the age of six, her family moved to San Bernardino, California, where she grew up.  She graduated from San Bernardino High School in 1962, and that fall she moved to Provo, Utah where she attended BYU. In her junior year, she met her husband-to-be. Barbara was a home economics major, and Eugene was studying to be a dietician. They shared some classes together and after a whirlwind courtship they were married three months after their first date. She married Eugene Merrill Hancock on May 29, 1965, in the Idaho Falls LDS Temple. Then, on May 27, 1966, Barbara and Gene were able to graduate together from the same college at Brigham Young University.

After graduation from BYU, Barbara and Gene lived in Oklahoma, New Mexico and then in 1969, they returned to Utah County where they raised their six kids: Susan, Douglas, Jean, Rebecca, Amanda, and Rachel.

For a short time, Barbara worked as a part-time member of the faculty in the Clothing and Textile department at BYU, where she taught a sewing class. She was an expert seamstress and sewed many things for her family. In November 1985, she was hired to work full-time at Satellite Software International (SSI), which later became WordPerfect. She continued working for Corel WordPerfect and later, Altiris, and Symantec. For the next 24 years her work was primarily in software support and testing. It was hard work, but she was good at it. She retired in May 2009.

Barbara was a faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and had many opportunities to serve in the church. She had a strong testimony and it showed in how she chose to live her life. She was a wonderful mother, grandmother, wife and friend, and will be missed by many.

Barbara is survived by her six children: Susan Miller (Larry), Doug Hancock (Alisa), Jeanie Gunter (Todd), Becky Hubbard (Neal), Mandy Boren (Bryan) and Rachel Hancock; her 15 grandchildren: Justin Keller, Jeremy Keller (Jo), Jessica Keller, Zach Hancock, Braden Hancock, Jenna Hancock, Tyler Papiernik (Tasha), Tori Papiernik (Tyler) Ruth Hubbard, Andrew Hubbard, Spencer Hubbard, Caleb Hubbard, Grace Boren, George Boren, Garrett Boren, and her 4 great-grandchildren: Marley, Mollie, Dahlia (Tyler Papiernik) and Alexandria (Tori Papiernik).

Funeral services will be held Thursday, April 6, 2023, at 11:00 a.m. at the Windsor 5th Ward LDS Chapel located at 60 E. 1600 N. Orem, Utah. A viewing for friends and family will be held Wednesday evening from 6-8 p.m. at the Sundberg Olpin Mortuary located at 495 South State Street in Orem, and on Thursday just prior to the service from 9:30-10:30 a.m. at the church.  Burial will be in the Orem City Cemetery.

Condolences may be expressed to the family on this page.

For those unable to attend in person, you may view the services by clicking HERE