The lovely & talented Carl Hancuff

It is with great sadness that we report the death of our friend and community leader, Carl Hancuff. He and his bride Mitzi have contributed so much to our community. Carl fell asleep in the Lord Monday; January 17th and he will be missed by so many folks in this town. Our prayers are with Mitzi and the entire Hancuff family.

Carl blessed us with his sales ability for over 20 years. I first met him at the buffet table of a party. He asked me what I did, and I told him we were starting a newspaper here in Edmond. I returned the question and he explained that among other things, he had worked for the Yellow Pages most of his career. He had my interest because we needed sales help at the paper and those darn Yellow Pages sales folks could sell the pants off of us newspaper folks.

It was not long after that he started selling our special magazines that come out four times per year along with some other special sections. He enjoyed selling those because like Yellow Pages, he would hit the street running, get the “book” as he called it sold up and then go back to his love of fishing. Carl did not care about the money, but he was more interested in the “jazz” of selling and the fun he had with it. He was great and folks would buy advertising from Carl just to make sure he came to see them four times a year. He really boosted our sales at the newspaper.

Carl did much more than sales for us. He lifted the spirits of everyone in the office and was a terrific ambassador. He was not a stay in the office guy but loved coming by, talking with everyone, dropping off a batch of orders and then off he would go.

When he hit the door he would walk right by my desk to the back room where all the real work happens at this place. “I’m sorry but I don’t have time to talk,” is what he would say. When he was done, he would make my desk his last stop and lift my spirits, always.

You may think the headline is odd. Carl had a better sense of humor then anyone I know. It was even on par with my dad’s sense of humor. When I asked him what we were to put on our masthead he replied, “List me as the lovely and talented Carl Hancuff. We did just that and put it on his business cards. When he would make a phone sales call, he would start with, “This is the lovely and talented Carl Hancuff” in his deep booming voice. How do you say no to a guy like that?

This was a man that had to stay busy. I came in one Saturday and Carl was in the back of the office remodeling our bathroom. “I thought it needed some work,” he told me. He was right and it looked so much better when it was done. If anything, Carl was a team player. Even though he did not work in our office every day, if you needed him to pitch in and help with the overall effort, he was there and ready to help. Best attitude ever.

I think the hardest I ever laughed with Carl, and there were many times, was during a Christmas lunch at our office. We were having a Dirty Santa gift exchange. It was my turn, so I picked a package from the pile. I thought it felt cold on the bottom but just figured that it had been in someone’s car. When I took off the wrapping paper the box started to move. I jumped back and out crawled a live lobster sitting on a cold pack. “I asked the guy at the counter how long it could live like

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