Trudy Jo Hancock
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Trudy Jo (Henkels) Hancock, 44, of Urbandale, Iowa, died Wednesday, July 22, 2020, at MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center following sudden heart complications.
Visitation will be 4-7 p.m. Monday, July 27 at Caldwell Parrish Funeral Home, 8201 Hickman Road, Urbandale. Mass of Christian Burial will be 10 a.m. Tuesday, July 28 at Saint Pius X Catholic Church, 3663 66th St., Urbandale.
Trudy was born in Dubuque on Oct. 13, 1975, a daughter of Peter and Mary (Fessler) Henkels. In 1994, she graduated from Wahlert Catholic High School, where she excelled in swimming. She won two state championships, reached the state meet podium four additional times, twice earned all-America recognition and set seven Wahlert and four city records, some of which still stand nearly a quarter-century later. She also competed in track and basketball and danced in the Dubuque City Youth Ballet.
In 2016, Trudy was inducted into the Iowa High School Swim Coaches Association Hall of Fame, joining her sister Tanya (2004). Trudy and Tanya are also enshrined in the Wahlert Athletic Hall of Fame.
After high school, Trudy swam competitively at Northern Arizona University and then Iowa State University, where she graduated in 1999 with a degree in photojournalism, and soon began coaching youth swimming. At the time of her death, she was coaching the DSMY Marlins program.
For all her success in athletics, Trudy's greatest rewards came as a wife and mother. In 2000, she married Neil Hancock, also of Dubuque, and in 2004 they became parents of twin sons, Tom and Joe.
Trudy was a loving and caring person, and family and friends will always remember her passion for life, her positive attitude, her twin boys, and her energy and encouragement toward the young swimmers entrusted to her.
Survivors include her husband, Neil; sons Tom and Joe, at home; mother, Mary Henkels, Carrollton, Texas; father, Peter Henkels, Dubuque; three brothers, Terry Henkels of Brisbane, Australia, Todd (Ginnie) Henkels of Peoria, Arizona, and Troy Henkels, Denali Park, Alaska; two sisters, Tracey Henkels of Portland, Oregon, and Tanya (Jim) Fields of Frisco, Texas; father- and mother-in-law, Joe and Dawn Hancock, Dubuque; and brother-in-law, Bryan (Samantha) Hancock, Dubuque.
Memorials may be made to the aquatics program of the YMCA of Greater Des Moines, 501 Grand Ave., Des Moines, Iowa 50309.