Cora was born in her home along the Roubidoux River. The youngest of eight children, family meant everything to her. Cora was a Houston High School graduate. Shortly after graduation, she married Jerry Kenneth Lawler. She was the mother of three and a military wife during the Vietnam War.
Cora was very involved in her kids’ sports and was always one to help. She was the team mother, scorekeeper and dugout coach for many years. All the kids called her mom.
In 1989, Cora married the love of her life, Larry Dean Wade. They did everything together until tragedy left Cora a widow in 1994. From there, she poured herself into community service. Some of her proudest accomplishments were sitting on the Houston Chamber of Commerce, Houston Planning and Zoning Commission and the Texas County Beauty Pageant boards.
Cora loved spending time researching her lineage. She had traced her roots all the way back to Killian, Scotland, and even owns a square foot of land there. Cora also became a proud member of Daughters of the American Revolution in 2022. Researching her history was a passion for her. Cora loved flowers, spending time in her garden and taking rides on old dirt roads….she called it making a circle. She loved to cook, but, if the dish didn’t meet her standards, she would just throw it out and start over. Cora’s family was everything to her and she was everything to her family. She was so proud of her many grandkids and great grandkids.
Proceeding her in death: maternal grandparents Ray Vaughn Hart and Ida Loumma (Bray) Hart. Paternal grandparents John A. Hancock and Cora Elizabeth (Pharris) Hancock. Parents Robert Emmett Hancock and Blanche Ollie (Hart) Hancock. Siblings – infant brother Harold Wayne Hancock, Lloyd and wife Leona Hancock, Virgie (Hancock) Stilley and husband Dale Stilley, Faye (Hancock) Baker and husband Charles Baker, sister-in-law Twila Hancock.
Surviving her in death: brother Tom Hancock, brother John Hancock and wife Leona, brother Jim Hancock and wife Kathy. Children Brent Lawler and wife Daina. Daughter Jerri K Lawler. Son Corey Lawler. Grandchildren: Kassidy (Lawler) Stone and husband Ethan, Austin Lawler and wife Jolee, Owen Lawler, Caden Lawler, Seth Lawler. Great grandchildren: Magnolia, Maddox, Meadow, Maple, Claramae and Ellenora.
Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m., Saturday, April 26, at First Baptist Church in Houston with Pastor Drew Gammill officiating. Visitation will be held from noon until the service time on Saturday at the church. Interment will follow in the Liberty Cemetery at Turley. Services are under the care of Bradford Funeral Home and online condolences may be left at www.bradfordfuneralhome.net.
