22 June 1944 – 13 March 2017
The ACT bridge community lost one of its influential members in the early days of organised bridge in the area when Tony Hancock died peacefully in his sleep on Monday evening (13/3/2017). He first appeared in Canberra in the late 1960s, one of a group of under 30s players to take to competitive bridge.
He stepped into the presidency of the CBC in 1969, following the untimely death of Egon Larsen. This was followed by another stint in 1970-71. Later he became president of the ACTBA (forerunner of BFACT) from 1985-87.
In 1970 he married Alison Golley, who is still a member of the club. This was followed in 1971 by running second in the ABF butler pairs, resulting in his international representation in the 1971 Far East Championship, and in 1972 the WBF Olympiad. However work and the arrival of two daughters curtailed further international considerations.
At the national level, he represented the ACT at the ANC on four occasions from 1969 to 1974. This included losing by 4 imps to SA in 1971, the first time any ACT team had made the finals.
Locally he won the State teams in 1969, the State pairs three time, the ACTBC teams 6 times, the CBC teams six times, and the CBC pairs once.
After Tony “retired” from competitive bridge in the late 1980s, he was able to devote more time to his other love, golf. However after suffering a mild stroke a few years ago, he was still able to continue playing golf and croquet. Fortunately the stroke did not hamper his skill at solving cryptic crosswords.
The club extends its sympathy to Alison and family.
