Rev. Anne Melendy Hancock M’84

Rev. Anne Melendy Hancock, East Charlotte/Shelburne, VT, died June 3, 2023. She grew up on Shelburne Road in Burlington, where one of her favorite activities as a little girl was sitting with her dad on his Vermont State Police Excelsior-Henderson motorcycle. As a teenager, she was a fine equestrian and loved to ride her horse, Starr, through the woodlands and meadows around her home. She graduated from Burlington High School.

In 1949, she married John E. Hancock, a handsome farmer from East Hardwick. After one cold winter in a poorly heated farmhouse with a newborn daughter, that career path ended. They moved back to Shelburne Road before moving to Proctor, Vermont for several years, later settling in East Charlotte where they would live much of the remainder of their lives. After her four children were grown, she began her years of academia. In 1976, at the age of 47, she attended Trinity College in Burlington, graduating Summa Cum Laude. In 1984 she completed her Saint Michael’s Masters in Science and Counseling degree.

During and after her years in school, she was also a licensed Lay Minister with the United Church of Christ, serving many churches in Vermont. She was one of three women in Vermont to establish the order of St. Luke’s Healing Ministry with the UCC, an ecumenical ministry of healing, prayer, the laying on of hands, and the sacraments. She had absolute faith and experience that prayer healed. Deciding to become an ordained minister, she studied and worked under the tutelage of Rev. John Nutting, and on April 30, 2000, at the age of 71, she earned the title of Rev. Anne Hancock at the Cornwall Church. She continued to serve as their pastor for three more years, retiring at the age of 74.

Anne was a beautiful seamstress, community leader and ardent supporter of women’s rights. She was passionate about serving the underprivileged whether it was hosting a Fresh Air child, fostering children, welcoming all the folks her children brought home from Camp Jened, and supporting Heifer International and Save the Children. She and her family enjoyed many memorable summer vacations in Wells, Maine.

Anne was predeceased by her husband of 62 years, John Hancock (2011) and her second husband, Gene Rothman (2018), She is survived by two sons, two daughters, and extended family.

To read the full obituary, click here: https://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/obituaries/bfp041957