Wanda Hockett

Wanda L. Hockett, 83 passed away on March 4, 2016 in Castle Rock, Colorado after admirably living her final years with the challenges of dementia. Wanda was born July 20, 1932 in Santa Ana, Texas and spent her early years growing up with her brother Ross and sister Bobbi in Wichita Falls, Texas. As a young teen, Wanda moved with her family to Los Alamos, NM in 1948 where her father saw improved employment opportunities. Wanda graduated from Los Alamos High School in 1949 and later attended Draughon's Business College in Abilene, TX. Wanda came back to New Mexico and was working in Santa Fe as a telephone operator when she met her first husband Louie A. Brownfield, a young Manhattan Project - Special Engineering Detachment firefighter working in Los Alamos. Wanda and Louie began their 24-year marriage in 1950 and started their young family in November 1952 with the birth of their first child Angela Sue. Their son Jay came along in May 1956. Wanda was a devoted mother and homemaker through the 60's and early 70's. She loved cooking, amassing hundreds of recipes, and spent much of her precious free time on her love of artwork, painting beautiful scenes using a variety of media. With matured children, Wanda re-entered the workforce in the early 70's as an executive assistant at the Zia Company. There she met her second husband Jack Hockett, a Los Alamos laboratory metallurgist whom she married in 1979. Jack and Wanda retired from Los Alamos in 1983 and moved to the sunny climate of Arizona. After Jack's passing in 1996, Wanda remained in Cottonwood, Arizona until she moved to Colorado in 2011. Wanda was also a gifted singer, singing her beloved country music when and where she had the opportunity throughout her life. She entertained America's servicemen at Shepard AFB with her singing talent as a young woman, and then much later in life, she performed with her son Jay on acoustic guitar at senior events in Castle Rock. Wanda is survived by her daughter Sue Scoggins and her husband Weldon in Los Alamos, NM; Jay Brownfield and his wife Terry in Larkspur, Colorado; step-son Thomas Hockett in Bend, Oregon; four grandchildren; one great grandchild; six step-grandchildren; and nine great step-grandchildren. A private service is planned for a later date. In lieu of flowers or donations, the family requests that Wanda's friends and loved ones simply do as she would have liked: smile, always be loving and complimentary to others, and with Wanda in your memory, share an act of kindness with someone you love or care about.