William Hendrick

  In Bill’s own words:
  “My full name is William Ellis Hendrick. Normally I am called Bill. I was born Nov. 16, 1931, at home about five miles northeast of Montrose, Missouri. My parents were Ralph Willard Hendrick and Ollie Windes Hendrick. I was the youngest of three boys. Ralph Jr. was the oldest, Clifford was in the middle and I was the baby.
  “I spent the first 13 years of my life on the Hendrick home place, a 210-acre farm. Growing up at that time did not involve much contact with the great outside world: no radio until 1941 and no TV. We played with neighbor kids and fished and hunted from about age 10. Work on the farm was the accepted standard. I was driving a tractor at age 11 or 12. As the youngest child, more of my work was helping Mom with getting in wood and drying dishes, etc. I attended the Farmer’s Institute School, our local grade school that was about 1-1/4 miles from our house. Of course, we walked. The school varied in size from four students up to about a dozen. At one time there were four students, and it was my two brothers and me along with one neighbor boy.
  “We lived on this farm until April 1945 when we moved to Idaho for one year. From Idaho we moved to Lynden WA where I attended the Lynden public high school and graduated in 1949.
  “I was drafted into the Army in 1952 and did basic training at Ft. Ord CA. My unit was then transferred to the Air Force Aviation Engineers and shipped to Fort Huachuca AZ for advanced training, then to Beale Air Base CA. In the spring of 1953 my outfit was flown to Shemya Island in the Aleutian Islands. The island was used as a refueling base for planes flying troops from the U.S. to Japan during the Korean War. I did carpentry work during the time I served. I was discharged as a corporal from Beale in 1954.
  “I met my wife Margie Dooyen when she was picking berries for my parents in Lynden. We were married on March 28, 1959, after I had finished college and was working for the accounting firm of Niemi, Holland and Scott in Walla Walla WA. We raised three children, Dan the oldest, Laura in the middle and Cathy the youngest. I put Marge through college. She obtained her RN and a Bachelors of Arts in nursing. Then we put all three kids through college.
  “I have a bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington. After graduating in December 1958, I started work for Niemi, Holland and Scott. Forty-three years later, I retired from the same firm. I went from a scared junior accountant to a senior partner. It was a very meaningful and enjoyable career.
  “Following my retirement, we moved closer to family in 2001. First we moved to Ferndale and then to Lynden where we enjoyed the company of our son Dan and his family (wife Xiaowen and daughters Emily and Sarah) and daughter Cathy and her family (husband Kurt and sons Kris and Cale). Our daughter Laura and her family (husband Craig and daughters Lindsay and Halie) continue to live on the East Coast in New Hampshire. I am also survived by my brother Clifford, who lives in Missouri.
  “God has been good to me through my entire life with more blessings than I probably deserved.”
  William Hendrick passed on March 21, 2021.You are invited to join the family and friends for Bill’s memorial service at Grace Baptist Fellowship at 2 p.m. Monday, March 29. You may participate by watching the service livestreamed at www.facebook.com/GilliesFuneralHomeAndCremationServices.
  Please share your memories by signing the online guest book at www.gilliesfuneralhome.com. Arrangements are entrusted to Gillies Funeral Home and Cremation Services of Lynden.