Shirley Ann Hendricks entered the gates of Heaven and her eternal reward on January 20, 2021, in Republic, Missouri.  Born in Salem, Missouri, on August 6, 1937, to Charley and Edna Powell Rogers, Shirley was the youngest of twelve children, and was always a Daddy’s girl.   She spent much of her youth and young adult years in Springfield, Missouri, graduating from both Springfield High School (now Central High) and Baptist Bible College.

Shirley trusted Jesus Christ as her Savior as a child because of the bus ministry of High Street Baptist Church.  The heartbeat of her life truly became, “Jesus is All the World to Me.”

Shirley loved to have fun and play practical jokes, and she enjoyed a vibrant single life for several years, enjoying deep and last friendships with her dear friend, Naomi Whiteker, and many other precious women in her life.  She loved teaching a Sunday School class at High Street.

When Shirley met the love of her life, Floyd Hendricks, on the campus of Baptist Bible College, they had no idea what an amazing love story of over fifty years they were beginning together.  Besides the Lord and each other, the delights of their lives were their two children and their families: Jeffrey and Leah Hendricks of Elkhart, Indiana, and Janette and Jason Lange of Springfield, Missouri.  Shirley doted on her eight grandchildren, Trenton Lange, Darren Lange, Rebekah Hendricks, Jeffrey Dean (JD) Hendricks, Braden Lange, Bailey Lange, Emily Hendricks, and Abigail Hendricks.  In her retirement years, one would usually find her playing games, working puzzles, and baking cookies with her grandchildren.

Floyd and Shirley’s love for Christ caused them to serve Him in full-time pastoral ministry at churches in Prescott, Kansas and Elkhart, Indiana.  The bulk of their ministry was spent at Highland Park Baptist Church in Elkhart, Indiana, where Shirley wrote the extensive Sunday School curriculum for almost 40 years, did much of the church bookwork, and led the ladies ministries.  Her passion was for the women, whom she loved dearly.  When she wasn’t laughing and planning fun skits and games for the ladies, she was hosting events, discipling, counseling, and sharing life with them.  Her rich, alto voice rang out in song each Sunday.

But ministry was only one part of Shirley’s amazing and gifted life. She was also an incredible administrative assistant and legal assistant for over fifty years, serving lawyers and judges throughout her long and successful career.  She loved her work, but her primary goal for working was to put her children through Christian school and to help provide for her and Floyd in their sunset years.  When she “retired,” she got her real estate license just to prove to herself that she could still learn new things in her sixties.

A hymn writer once wrote,

“Sometimes on the mount where the sun shines so bright,
God leads His dear children along;
Sometimes in the valley, in darkest of night,
God leads His dear children along.”

When Alzheimer’s began attacking Shirley over twelve years ago, she dreaded what she knew would be the darkest night of her life.  She fought long and hard to maintain her independence and intellect.  When her safety required admittance into a memory care unit, she continued to pray and read her Bible, enjoying Gaither videos and I Love Lucy.  She would even watch her St. Louis Cardinals when they were televised against the Chicago Cubs.  She relished the rivalry with her children who are Cubs fans. She would light up when her children and grandchildren came to visit and would sit on the floor playing games and doing puzzles with them up until the last few years of her amazing life.  She loved singing hymns with them and watching her granddaughter and daughter play the piano for her.   But her favorite hours were still the ones spent with her beloved Floyd, holding his hand, smiling at him, enjoying the Dr. Pepper he brought to her in his wheelchair.  While she didn’t understand the isolation of the Covid–19 quarantine, she still understood Jesus’s love for her, prayer, and Floyd’s love.  She mostly slept for two straight weeks when he died in October 2020.  But she rallied to live three and a half more months, grinning brightly when her children and grandchildren would visit her through the window, always beckoning them to please come inside to see her.

Finally, on that sunny day in January, as her favorite red birds were playing near the window, God finally led Shirley out of the darkest years of her life.

“Away from the mire, and away from the clay,
God leads His dear children along;
Away up in glory, eternity’s day,
God leads His dear children along.”

Shirley was preceded in death by her parents, her loving husband, 8 brothers, 3 sisters, and a precious, unborn grandchild.

Her children, grandchildren, and a host of other family and friends rise up and call her blessed, both here on Earth and in Heaven above: “Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all. Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.” – Proverbs 31:1-31

A viewing for Shirley will be held at Cherry Street Baptist Church in Springfield, Missouri on Wednesday, January 27, 2021, at 10:00 A.M.  The Homegoing Celebration Service will be held immediately afterward at 11:00 A.M., with a private family graveside service at the Missouri Veteran’s Cemetery later in the afternoon.

Memorial gifts may be sent in Shirley’s honor to the building improvement fund of Highland Park Baptist Church, 54162 Highland Blvd, Elkhart, Indiana 46514.