It didn't take Ingrid Toepper long to understand why Dr. Reginald Hancock was such a popular doctor.
"Not only did Reggie have the most beautiful blue eyes, but a smile that captured his warm personality," she said. A year after meeting the noted urologist, Ingrid Toepper became Ingrid Hancock.
Dr. Reginald A. Hancock, of Scott Township, who had the Lee-Hancock Urological Suite at Presbyterian-University Hospital in Oakland named after him, died from natural causes Friday, Oct. 4, 2002 at St. Clair Hospital, Mt. Lebanon. He was 92.
Ten years after his first wife, Ida, had died, Dr. Hancock met the woman who would become his second.
"I was the manager of the fur department at Saks Fifth Avenue in Downtown Pittsburgh," Ingrid Hancock recalled. "Reggie brought in a fur coat that he had purchased for his daughter, but it was too small for her. As soon as I saw him, I knew he was the man for me. It was that twinkle in his eyes."
A year later, the two were married.
Ingrid Hancock recalled the numerous trips that they made as Dr. Hancock spoke at and attended medical seminars and symposiums in Europe, Australia, Africa and the Far East.
"No matter what city we were in — whether it was Rome or Barcelona or Frankfurt — Reggie would visit the hospital and observe how they handled their urology departments," she said.
Born and raised in Roscoe, Washington County, Dr. Hancock received his undergraduate degree in chemistry from Waynesburg College, Greene County, and his medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh Medical School.
During the height of the Depression, Dr. Hancock, while undergoing post-graduate training at Uniontown Hospital, Fayette County, would go to the homes of the miners and deliver babies.
"If they had the money to pay Dad, it was fine," said his son, Scott Hancock. "If they didn't, it didn't matter. Often they would pay Dad with the vegetables they grew in their gardens."
In the ensuing years, Dr. Hancock served his residencies in urology at Ohio University Hospital, in Athens, Ohio, and at Wayne County General Hospital, before his appointments in urology in the Department of Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical School, where he also was an associate professor.
His wife also recalled how her husband never hesitated to get up in the middle of the night when he received a call from a patient or from the hospital.
"Reggie often missed church services because of making his rounds at the hospital," she said. "Reggie often said to me: 'I try to fulfill my duties as a Christian by making the rounds on Sunday morning and helping to ease the pain and the suffering.'"
Ingrid Hancock also recalled how his compassion manifested itself in animals.
"Reggie loved dogs. He had Buddy — a white and black cocker spaniel for 14 years. We both supported the work of Animal Friends."
Dr. Hancock is survived by his wife, Ingrid Toepper Hancock; daughter, Regina Vintiades of Greenwich, Conn.; sons, Bruce of Mt. Washington, Thomas of the South Hills and Scott of Arkansas; four grandchildren; and a sister, Esther Jenkins of Princeton, N.J.
Friends will be received from 1 to 5 p.m. today at Laughlin Memorial Chapel Inc., 222 Washington Road, Mt. Lebanon. A memorial service will follow at 5 p.m. at Mt. Lebanon United Methodist Church, 3319 W. Liberty Ave. Interment in Fayette City, Fayette County, will be private.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Animal Friends in memory of "Buddy," 2643 Penn Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15222 or Family Hospice, 250 Mt. Lebanon Blvd., Suite 203, Pittsburgh, PA 15234.
