HANCOCK, Gilbert R.

Gilbert R. Hancock, 89, died in hospital in Sydney, NS, June 28, 2017.

Intellectually curious, passionate about the natural world, loving music of all genres, especially jazz, he will be celebrated and missed by those who knew him.

Born in Chicago, Ill. he left school and joined the US Navy to support his young family.

Honorably discharged in 1948 he completed his GED and was able to take advantage of the GI Bill, enrolling in the Art Instutute of Chicago where he eventually graduated with a BFA in Sculpture. While studying he also worked as an arts and crafts instructor at the Chicago Firmen (Settlement) House and the Chicago Boys Club.

He moved on to teach art at Trinity High School, River Forest, Ill. and become an Instructor of ceramics and sculpture at Rosary College (now Dominican University), in River Forest, Ill., and at Mundelein College and Loyola Univ. in Chicago.

He and his second wife Edna Del Zoppo immigrated to Point Michaud, Cape Breton, NS in 1975. From 1979 to 1984 he developed the Sherbrooke Village Pottery, in conjunction with the Village Commission and the NS Museum of Natural History.

From 1984 to the early 2000s, working on contract for the Fortress of Louisbourg, in collaboration with curators and historians, he developed and produced an extensive catalog of reproduction pottery, primarily 16th century French coarse earthenware, both for furnishings and for use by Fortress animators.

His work is now in private collections and small museums in Can. and the US and in the national Canadian Museum of History as well as the Fortress of Louisbourg.

Pre-deceased by his first wife, Dorothy (Bowles) Smith, and his three brothers and three sisters.

He is survived by his wife, Edna ‘Del’ Del Zoppo-Hancock; sons, Gilbert Jr, Gregory and Geoffrey; grand and greatgrandchildren; nieces and nephews, and students whose lives he touched.

Donations can be made to Playing For Change, www.playingforchange.com or Medecins San Frontiere, www.msf.ca.