In Memory

Tom Hendricks**

Tom Hendricks**

Tom died January 5, 2014 in Portland, OR after fighting a two year battle with ALS.



 
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01/09/15 09:19 AM #1    

Renee Lukehart (Wilkie)

Tommy was a good friend to many. He was a deep thinking, fun loving, soulful singing , loyal man. I was priveledged to call him my friend. We lived far from each other but were able to stay connected through the internet. The last conversation I had with him I asked him "What makes your heart swell? " He said something like -All the friends I have and the LOVE I am surrounded in and looking down on this beautiful planet from a few thousand feet up. I was blessed to know him .


01/09/15 01:58 PM #2    

Peggy Gassberry (Gassberry-Jenkins)

Tom always had a cool manner about him; he was always friendly and polite, from viewing his pics on FB I could tell he enjoyed life to the fullest.

Very sad to see him leave his physical/earthly life at such an early age.

Renee so glad you kept an active friendship with him,you are teaching us not to let itime go by without reaching out to old friend and cultivating new ones.


01/10/15 10:22 AM #3    

Steven C. Larson

Tom and I were the only ones I'm aware of who ended up in the Navy after we graduated.  Tom flew for a few years, before getting out.  I started out enlisted, and then later ended up being commissioned from the ranks.  When we got together at both our thirtieth and fortieth reunions, we swapped sea stories of our experiences - something very brotherly and meaningful to old sailors.  I'll miss him.  Glad he's not suffering from the disease anymore, but I'll always miss old shipmates and the stories.


01/08/21 05:06 PM #4    

John Oler

I was reminded the other day it was the anniversary of Tom's birthday. I was checking out a FB post by one of his ISU buddies. Satch they called him. Anyway the post had a great pic of Tom in the cockpit of an airplane. They said he had flown into Ames for the weekend, probably a football game or VEISHEA or an ATO party.

After Tom announced his affliction with ALS in 2011 he came out to the 40th Reunion. I was not able to attend that because my daughter got married that same weekend. We spent a little time together anyway. I went out to Portland and visited in January 2012. We had an awesome time. Tom was still doing pretty well at that time. He showed me around some even though my time there was short. Then in September 2013 I went again. Tom was more compromised then. He could walk but not far. He could not swallow anymore nor talk. We conversed via his iPad voice. We nevertheless had a great time again. It really took me back to when he and I were morning paperboys for the Register. Meeting up to ride our bikes to Smitty's Doughnuts or the Spudnut Shop by Drake and get fresh doughnuts. In Portland those few days we were just a couple old paperboys like old times. The last thing I did with Tom was to drive him to church. What a trip going with him to his church having him give me driving instructions from the iPad voice saying "take a left at next corner". Seeing the people there great him. He was perhaps my most longtime friend. Somewhere in grade school and in the old neighborhood between Cottage Grove and Kingman and 31st and 29th. Unforgetable.

 


01/09/21 12:04 PM #5    

Larry Pomeroy

Hey John -

Just read your comments about Tom and realized I had never said anything about him after he passed.

In the summer of our junior year, just over 50 years ago, I was casting about for a job and somehow wound up talking to Tom about his job at Bert's DX station up on University Avenue. And somehow, probably with his help, I got one there too (then so did Obie Nelson).

Didn't know squat about cars (except washing them) or mechnics and Tom showed me the ropes around the place: how to pump gas (those were the days when us kids did that for all the customers), check for and add oil, inflate tires, repair flats, get a car hoisted up on the rack, change oil and lube any car, work the cash register, etc..

We got about $1.50/hr to start, worked 8-hour shifts usually with one other guy (as well as Byron, Bert's son) and maybe grabbed 10-15 minutes for lunch, unless a customer drove up. There was never a dull moment and if there was one, Bert would magically appear and we were assigned the task of hand-washing, vacuuming and waxing his circa '64 Buick until it gleamed.

On Sundays we worked from 8AM until 9AM, just two of us, and to keep us from reporting him to the Dept. of Child Labor, Bert would buy us dinner, usually at McDonalds (I think there was a $5 limit). Needless to say, there were many hours of talk and banter and we got to know each other well. Simply stated, Tom was a great guy - always up and ready to help out or lend a hand.

I last saw him at our 40th and we were able to catch-up and reminice about our early years. While I don't remember him as a regular participant in our Grain Belt with seed-and-stems-reefer parties down at the river, this time he came down with us for our every-reunion gathering at the Trestle/ River and had a blast. Said it was the best time he had had in a long time - so glad he was there. If I can post it, there is pic of that reunion with from l-r: me, Craig Campbell, Alex Wiechner (sp?), Dana Ingram, Kent Klein, Tom and Rob Holcomb.

We'll miss his at our 50th this year. 

 


01/09/21 12:09 PM #6    

Bonnie Long

Tom always had a smile on his face. He just lit up a room. We didn't keep in touch but I was lucky to have known him.


01/10/21 09:04 AM #7    

Cris Miller

I had very little contact with Tom after grade school (at Elmwood), but we were Kindergarten and first-grade sweethearts. He gave me little presents (including a very pretty necklace) and we did a lot of holding hands. At some point our mothers even contacted each other to make sure that his giving me "romantic" gifts was ok. Somehow the intensity of that attachment, once we both moved on from it, made it hard for us to be friends when we met up again in high school, but I've regretted not making an effort to reconnect with him. He remains a big part of my memory of those early years--and already at that point of his life he was a loving, fun, generous guy.


01/10/21 10:05 AM #8    

Marie Rich (Doyle)

I do not remember Tom very well myself but I so enjoy reading the memories of him.  This is exactly what this class website is all about.  Thank you all.  Hope to see everyone at the 50th. 


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