Dr. John Hendricks

     Dr. John Hendricks, of Griffin, GA and Iuka, MS, passed away on January 20, 2023.  John Thornton Benedict Hendricks was born in 1939 to Dr. Herman and Helen (Hedger) Hendricks, in Knoxville, TN.  He lived abroad in post World War II Europe and Japan with his Father, a Marshal Plan diplomat, and graduated from Tennessee Military Institute.  His step-mother was Gladys Smelcher Hendricks.

     Hendricks briefly attended Centre College, but went onto Western Kentucky College (later University) where he earned his BA in English and History (1960), also a MA in English (1959).  While working on his master's degree, he met and fell in love with Patsy Ann Carman and they were married six weeks after meeting in the history club.  They were married for 61 years.  In 1969, Hendricks earned a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership.

     Known affectionately as “Doc,” Dr. Hendricks taught in public and private schools, from Kentucky to Tennessee to Virginia, and lastly, Georgia.  He also served as a superintendent (1978) in Mathews County, VA and principal at Buckingham High from 1972 to 1978, where he built the first vocational high school in the state of Virginia.  He also taught freshman English and Developmental Studies at William and Mary, Mercer University, Gordon College, and Clayton State University.

     Dr. Hendricks served in the United States Army, Army Reserve, and Kentucky and Virginia National Guards from 1962 to 1975, with an honorable discharge as an officer.

     Dr. Hendricks served as a Methodist circuit preacher for Ebenezer, Pleasant Hill, and Aldora Mills.  He was an accomplished singer and songwriter, with publishing 3 volumes of poetry and the regional best-seller Once Upon A Lynching: The Story of Jerome Boyett.  He was an avid Gideon before his 1994 conversion to Roman Catholicism, where he was a parishioner at Sacred Heart in Griffin, GA.

     Dr. Hendricks was a man of all seasons, with many passions and hobbies. His greatest pleasures were his German Shepherds, gardening, and fishing with his grandson.

     Dr. Hendricks is survived by his wife, Patsy Carman Hendricks, of Iuka, MS; a daughter, Anne Childress (David Childress), of Corinth, MS and a grandson, Ian R. Browning, of Griffin, GA, and a son, Bob Hendricks, of Griffin, GA.  He is predeceased by two sisters, Erma Louise and Margaret Hendricks, and a granddaughter, Lorelei Hendricks Browning.

     Memorial services will be held at 1:00 P.M. Saturday, February 4, 2023 at Muster Funeral Homes, Livermore Chapel.  Military Honors will be conducted by the McLean County Veterans of Foreign Wars Memorial Post #5415.  Friends and family may visit from 12:00 P.M. (noon) until 1:00 P.M. Saturday at Musters in Livermore.  A private burial will be for just family members in the family cemetery in Beech Grove, KY.

     Dr. Hendricks’ services will be streamed live on www.musterfuneralhomes.com at 1:00 P.M. Saturday.

     Anyone desiring to send flowers may do so.  The two charities that Dr. Hendricks supported were Wounded Warriors; P.O. Box 758516; Topeka, KS  66675-8516 at https://support.woundedwarriorproject.org/donate and Rachel’s Vineyard; 808 N. Henderson Road; Suite 210; King of Prussia, PA  19406 at https://www.rachelsvineyard.org/donate/index.aspx.

     Share your memories and photos of Dr. Hendricks at musterfuneralhomes.com.

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