John Hancock with Accordian
John Henry Hancock, a minister and an accordionist, was best known for his worldwide work with Seventh-day Adventist young people. John, the son of George Henry and Anna Samson Hancock was born in Chico, California on August 8, 1917. He lived a very interesting childhood, where at an early age his love of art and music was apparent.
His musical training included seven years of piano and on the piano Accordion, beginning at age fourteen, with Orlando Meni-Ketti. He had music classes in high school and college and years later he studied with world-renowned concert artist Anthony Galli-Rini.
In his earlier years he performed with numerous ensembles and was in demand as a solo performer of both classical and lighter music genres. His first interest and study was in classical and light classical music yet he was widely known for his creative arrangements of familiar hymns and a style of playing featuring an active bass line in contrast to the more common chord style adopted by many players.
As a youth John practiced and practiced to make his signature the same as the famous John H. Hancock that had signed the Declaration of Independence many years before. He proudly signed his name with a flourish and it did look much like the original John Henry Hancock’s signature.
John helped to put himself through school by designing emblems for companies and writing cartoons for newspapers. He was very talented and enjoyed creating art on paper and playing the piano accordion.
There was one prayer meeting held in the old church in Chico, California that was to have a profound influence on his life, for it was there that a young man, John Hancock, cast his eyes upon a young lady in her red dress and thought she looked very sweet. He later paid a visit to her parent’s home and visited with her on the porch swing to get acquainted. John was Helen’s first suitor and the first time that John had dated a girl. It was not long until they were going steady, as teen-agers often say, and over the next several years their relationship grew and their love deepened.
John attended Pacific Union College, where he graduated with a degree in theology in 1939. While still in college he married Helen Virginia Lonbergerand upon graduating began a career as a minister in the Northern California Conference of Seventh-day Adventist. Whenthey began their ministry in 1939, things were quite different than they are now. They had very little of this earth’s goods and for the first year had conference chairs and a conference cot covered with an Indian blanket in their front room. But even harder than that, they lived in a tent one summer in Hornbrook, California where John acted as tent master for an evangelistic effort. John built a floor out of wood for the tent and a little porch where they put an electric refrigerator and a gasoline two-burner Coleman stove. Helen did all her cooking on this stove besides taking care of her infant son, Richard. They had to cross the street for toilet facilities in an old garage and carry their water. The only place for a bath was the Klammath River, but Helen made the best of it and had no complaints. She mentioned that she did her first canning of vegetables, that the people gave them, using that Coleman stove and a ten cent Kerr Canning Book. God blessed as not one jar, even of string beans, spoiled. It was sometimes 120 degrees in that little tent and Richard nearly died. John and Helen looked back on those experiences sometimes as their Gethsemane.
John H.Hancock became a minister in the Southeastern California Conference, where in 1946 he was the pastor of the Santa Ana Seventh-day Adventist Church.
John received a call from the Southeastern California Conference President to become the Missionary Volunteer Secretary for the conference. In today’s terminology he was asked to be the Youth Director.After prayer he and Helen thought this was what they would enjoy doing, so accepted. John and Helen moved 17 times in their first seven years of conference work, and never lived in a house for a year until their move to Riverside when John became youth director for the conference. He served in Southeastern 1946-1951.
One of his first tasks was to lead out in summer camp at Camp Idyllwild, which was located in the San Jacinto Mountains near the small mountain community of Idyllwild, in Southern California.
John loved the new role as Youth Director and worked closely with the camp staff, which was already in place when he arrived, at his new job. He was a Youth Director at heart and felt that he and Helen had arrived at their calling, working primarily with youth. The camp experience was a thrill for John with the opportunity to reach youth for Jesus. Helen also worked hard at the JMV Pathfinder Camp each summer in Idyllwild, operating the Camp Store, assisting in camp administration, and keeping an eye on the food service.
After camp shortly after arriving back at his office in Arlington, California, he received a phone call from a mother of one of his campers. She had seen the positive impact that the summer camp program had on her son and asked “Why can’t we have a summer camp program all year long?”
Several times, while sharing this story, with Arnold and I, “Uncle” John stated that he had thought about the staff, pastors and teachers that were required to work at summer camp if they were employed by the Conference. He was pretty sure they would not like the idea of working on camping activities all year long as they already had full schedules.
Pastor Hancock was aware of a folder in his office file that explained about a program for Junior Youth called Pathfinders, which had had its beginnings in Southeastern California Conference in 1928, under the leadership of a former Youth Director (MV Secretary) Pastor Guy Mann.
John called the Riverside Church pastor, who had a daughter that would be Pathfinder age and explained the idea to him. The pastor agreed to have a club sponsored by their church so they searched for a person to lead such a group. They asked a La Sierra College ministerial student, Francis Hunt, if he would be willing to lead this new club. Helen Hancock had a large part in that endeavor. The club was held at the church but the honor classes were taught in homes. Helen taught, in the Hancock home on Gardena Drive, the class in baking to a bunch of hungry juniors who loved to eat their own creations.
John Hancock designed Triangle patch
John designed the Pathfinder Club triangle emblem in 1946 for this fledgling club. The members proudly wore this patch on their dress or shirt sleeves. The girls wore a dark green one piece dress that was the MV/JMV Uniform and the fellows wore khaki pants and shirts that were readily available. Helen helped to find a pattern and to sew the dresses for the girls.
About this time there were other clubs up and running, including the Glendale Pathfinder Club with Lawrence Paulson as director. Also in 1948 Henry Bergh in Central California Conference helped to start 23 Pathfinder Clubs.
As a member of the Pacific Union Director’s MV Council John helped to write the 1st Pathfinder Staff Manual. He also helped to put together “How To Start A Pathfinder Club” booklet for world use, incorporating booklets written by Henry T. Bergh of Central California Conference and layman Lawrence W. Paulson, director of the Glendale Pathfinder Club.
John was a song writer and musician but for some reason he suggested to Henry Bergh that he, Henry, should write a song for Pathfinders. But that is another story!
Hancock designed most of the new AY Honor emblems 1951 – 1981. In 1980 Elder Hancock designed the new Adventist Youth emblem. He used his artistic talent for many years for the youth of the Seventh-day Adventist church.
John served in the Lake Union as youth director 1951-1954.Helen became the Primary leader at the Pioneer Memorial Church and because of her success in raising money for remodeling the drab Sabbath School room she was then asked to be Home and School leader where she helped to raise money for a number of projects.
The Hancock’s moved to Portland where John became Youth Director for the North Pacific Union 1954-1964. During this time Pastor Hancock led out in the first Union Pathfinder camporee (June 4-7, 1959)onrecord which was held at Snoqualmie National Forest, in Washington State with 1000 Pathfinder’s present.
Talent and Christian dedication was noticed and John was asked to join the General Conference MV (Youth) Department. He became World Pathfinder director (an associate in the Youth Department) in 1964. Pastor Hancock served as the 2nd World Pathfinder Director 1964–1970 taking over when Pastor Laurence Skinner retired. John visited clubs throughout North America as well as the world field.
Six years later John was appointed World Youth Director where he served 1970-1980. Everywhere Pastor Hancock traveled his trusty Excelsior accordion accompanied him. He often said that it spoke the universal language of music so meeting people with languages he could not understand was not a problem. The fine Excelsior accordion accompanied John to every country in the world. Hundreds of thousands thrilled to the sound of “John and his squeeze box”. This fine instrument, the Steinway of accordions, was custom built to John’s own specifications. No other accordion exists like it. No other accordion traveled so far and played before so many youth.
His faithful wife, Helen, kept the home fires burning and raising their three children, Dottie, John Richard, and George Dwayne often alone while John traveled the world. Helen stayed home to raise the children until they were in school as she felt the home was the real center of a child’s life.
John loved the opportunity to lead youth to Jesus and he often had the pleasure of baptizing young people in various countries. It was always a thrill to him to help to guide individuals to the Lord.
Probably John’s most famous song, was I’ll Share My Faith. He wrote seven wonderful choruses that were sung at Youth Congresses all over the world. They included: Safe In His Hands, All of my Heart, To the Outposts!, Christ is Coming, We’ll March Along Together, Make Us Ready, Follow Me (written jointly with Lowell Litten), and of course I’ll Share My Faith.
While serving in Southern California, Hancock recorded his own album, John Hancock and His Piano-Accordion, which was released by Chapel Records in 1964.
Helen worked for 41 years in ministry of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, first in evangelism, later in pastoral work and then from 1946 – 1980 she worked with John while he served as a youth director.
During retirement John and Helen visited churches and attended Conference Pathfinder activities. John was guest speaker at many Youth Congresses, Camporees and churches. He rode as Grand Marshal in parades for Conference Pathfinder Fairs.
Helen was John’s helpmate for 52 years of marriage. She was a lover of God’s beautiful creations. When she and John retired and moved to Yucaipa, California in 1983 he helped her plant flowers and over 100 rose bushes. More than once when Arnold and I visited their home they would be in the back yard, which John called their “Garden of Weeden”, seeing to the many plants and flowers or just relaxing as they watched a variety of birds. Helen particularly enjoyed the humming birds.
Helen V. Hancock who had been born August 20, 1920 in Los Angeles, California died on July 13, 1990. It was, as John said, quite a shock, as she died from a blood clot that went from a wound in her foot to her lung and then passed to her heart. She only lived about 30 minutes from the time she first had difficulty breathing. Helen died on her way to the hospital. It was a very sad time for family and her many friends. The Hughes Loma Linda Funeral Chapel was filled for the service celebrating Helen’s life and she was laid to rest in the nearby cemetery awaiting the call of her Master.
In the early 1990’s La Sierra College’s (University) School of Religion responded to a North American Division initiative to establish a youth ministry resource center as a response to Project Affirmation and the Valuegenesis research conducted by the Division’s Office of Education. The challenge was to name this resource and research center after someone that personalized the theory of children’s and youth ministry in the Adventist church, someone that had practiced ministry and impacted the generations of God’s Church. La Sierra named their center the John Hancock Center. When the center opened and John Hancock was asked to be the founding father of the center, he jumped at the challenge.
John was very lonely following Helen’s death and in 1991 he married Charlotte(Lollie) Keller. Lollie and John enjoyed their time together, visiting family and friends. John continued to work in his “Garden of Weeden” and Lottie enjoyed it with him. He also continued to visit Pathfinder Clubs and play for Pathfinder Sabbath’s and other youth meetings.
In 1994 “Uncle” John and Aunt Lollie were with Arnold and I in Colorado for the Dare to Care Pathfinder Camporee. They were an important part of the Pathfinder Museum displays. They sat comfortably in camping chairs within a camp scene made especially as a place where he could greet his many Pathfinder friends and meet new ones, signing his famous autograph.
John and Lollie had about ten years together before he had a stroke and was moved to a care facility for a short time. Here Arnold and I visited him and Lollie in early February. John was in and out of it most of the time. Lollie asked Arnold to speak to him in Spanish and when Arnold did John opened his eyes and responded in Spanish before drifting off again. It was with great sadness to learn of his death February 22, 2001.
In a tribute to John following his death Bailey Gillespie of the Hancock Center said: “He was modest and careful not to draw attention to himself in the work of the center, always supporting it, personally bringing small, but significant donations to support the center’s mission. He gave books that had inspired his ministry, and selected mementos of his ministry for the display. John talked with the students and director Bailey Gillespie Ph.D. and Cheryl Webster assistant director sharing stories about his mementos.
John was a model of what youth ministry is as an example of the life of Christ.” At the memorial service at his church, the Calimesa Seventh-day Adventist Church, the pews were filled with family and friends. The service was a wonderful tribute to a life well led in Jesus Christ.
Dixie drove from Oregon, where she and Arnold had retired to help care for her aging parents. Arnold was on a dental mission trip at the time. It was a special privilege to share this time with family, friends and Pathfinder leaders from many places. We had indeed lost a giant in Youth Ministry, a mentor and a friend.
When John H. Hancock died he left behind a loving family and a multitude of friends. We are looking forward to that bright day when we are all “Safe in His Hands” (the 1962 Youth Congress theme song Pastor John H. Hancock wrote)
