Elliott Oscar Hanscom

Elliott Oscar Hanscom, 92, of Charlotte, passed away Wednesday,  January 31, 2018 at the Harris Unit of Novant Presbyterian Hospital.  Born in Auburn, Maine on July 26, 1925, Elliott was one of six children born to the late Oscar and Susie (Drake) Hanscom,  He proudly and honorably served in the US Marine Corp during World War II.  He served in the Canine Unit and was stationed on Iwo Jima, Volcano Island and later served in Japan.  Following his discharge, Elliott worked as an auto body technician.  He married the former Addie May Jarman and together they raised 4 children.  

Mr. Hanscom was a member of Grace Crossing Baptist Church.  He enjoyed working at his hobbies of being a Taxidermist and gardener.  He was always giving away his tomatoes. 

Another of the many things Elliott did was to build a house.  A note written by Addie to Elliott’s dad on the back of a picture of the house - “This is it! We are very proud of it.  Elliott is especially proud since he built it almost by himself.  He has had very little help on it.  Bet you never dreamed your son would turn out to be a Carpenter did you, Dad?  Elliott is by the window putting on shingles and Bertie is to the left and Terry to the right.”

Besides his parents, Mr. Hanscom was preceded in death by his daughter Bonita, son  Bertram and brothers Bertram Hanscom and Richard Hanscom.  He is survived by his wife of 71 years Addie May Hanscom, sons Terry Steven Hanscom and Dennis Keith Hanscom; sisters Eleanor Rafnell, Coralie Guerrazzi and Evelyn Spencer 
      
A memorial service with military honors will be held on Sunday, March 18th at 2 PM at Grace Crossing Baptist Church.  Interment will take place at Salisbury National Cemetery, Salisbury, NC.
 
Memorials may be made to Grace Crossing Baptist Church, 5600 Rocky River Rd, Charlotte, NC, 28215  
   

Who AM I?

I was raised on the outskirts of a city. There were six children. We had a big garden in the summer with plenty of work to do. We heated our house with a wood stove so there was plenty of wood to chop and bring in. On Saturdays my mother spent all day baking bread, doughnuts, cookies and pies. Not all at once, because we ate it up about as fast as she cooked.

Our first home got burned down when I was real young. People were mighty kind to us and furnished us hand-me-down clothes, blankets and things. Then we moved into another house right around the corner, which my father bought. You could almost see through the walls upstairs where our bedrooms were. My dad and his brother and others got it in shape and made a nice, warm, comfortable home out of it. We stayed there as long as I was home.

The one thing that stays in my mind, was when I was around sixteen, my brother, a little older and our good friend all decided we wanted to go swimming. It was the first of April and a warm enough day, we thought. We knew our parents would tell us that it was much too early and that the water would still be icy cold. So, without asking them, we threw our swim trunks out the upstairs window and away we went. Well, needless to say, the water took our breath away. Who should be standing on the bank but our local newspaper photographer! He made our picture and it appeared on the front page headlines saying, RUSHING THE SEASON. Anyway, I delivered newspapers while growing up and got first look at it. Boy, I surely hated for my mom and dad to get hold of that!

Another interesting thing that happened when I was about twelve years old: My friend and I were riding his bike and I was on the crossbar. A car ran into us at an intersection and the next thing I knew I was in the hospital the next day. A nurse came in and I asked her where my clothes were. She pointed to the closet and I took for granted that it was ok for me to go home. So, I put on my clothes and walked out of the hospital without saying anything to anyone and decided to go to a movie. My parents were worried so much about me thinking I had a concussion and lost in the city all that time I was in the movie house enjoying the movie. When I got out and took the bus home I got a tongue-lashing, but they were glad to know I was ok.

By: Elliott Hanscom

Donations may be made to:

Grace Crossing Baptist Church
5600 Rocky River Rd., Charlotte NC 28215
Tel: 1-704-494-4746
Web: https://gracecrossingcharlotte.cloverdonations.com/online-giving

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