Roy Wesley Hendrix Jr.

1926 - 2020

Roy Wesley Hendrix, Jr.

Roy Wesley Hendrix, Jr. (1926-2020) died peacefully at his home surrounded by his loved ones. He was a devoted family man, a prominent attorney, and an individual whose zest for life and manifold interests enriched Memphis, Shelby County and all who knew him. He had deep roots in this area. Roy's maternal family, the Canons, migrated from Mecklenburg County, NC during the 1840s and settled in Red Banks, MS in Marshall County where they helped to found one of the oldest Presbyterian churches in the area. The family later moved to Collierville, TN, where they were among the founders of the Collierville Presbyterian Church, and where Roy's great grandfather, John Pittman Humphreys, served as mayor for five terms.

After Pearl Harbor, Roy enlisted in the Navy at age 17. Having completed basic training, he received a last flight physical before deployment. To his shock, he was diagnosed as color blind and honorably discharged. Devastated, he returned home only to be drafted by mistake into the army at 18. Waiving his discharge, he joined and was set to deploy to the Pacific shortly before WWII ended.

Returning to Memphis, he enrolled in Memphis State University (now University of Memphis) and began his lifelong passion for aviation whereby he earned his pilot's license at an old airfield near the present Memphis International Airport. During these years, he met, and in 1947 married his beloved wife of 65 years, Margie Langhart Hendrix, who passed away in 2013. The young couple soon left for Nashville, where Roy graduated from Vanderbilt Law School in 1951.

They then returned to Memphis where Roy practiced law. In 1967 Roy along with John Thomason and Frank Crawford founded the firm Thomason, Crawford, and Hendrix (now Lewis Thomason). In the early 1960s, Roy and Margie moved out to Massey Rd., then in Shelby County in between Memphis and Germantown, an area which was at the time largely farm land. Like most of their neighbors, they became avid horseback riders as part of that old, pastoral way of life, now vanished. Roy and Margie were great lovers of the River—of its lore and its complex, often dangerous waters. They maintained a houseboat at The Memphis Yacht Club on the River from the inception of its present location on Mud Island. During the '60s, Roy again took up aviation with his customary zeal. After the family went to bed, he stayed up nights, studying long hours to achieve his instrument and jet plane ratings. He owned (jointly with friends) two airplanes. Among many trips, he and Margie flew to the Bahamas to scuba dive at least 9 times. One of Roy's treasured memories was flying his plane over parts of Texas, Mexico, and the Gulf of California (with no refueling stations) to Cabo St. Lucas on the Baja peninsula. There he landed on the sand at the sight of the yet non-existent resort, to meet his friend, mentor, and fellow aviator, Lucius Birch, to go deep sea fishing.

Roy had many other interests. He played tennis several times a week until he turned 90, maintaining his membership in the University Club and also playing at Leftwich Tennis Center. He lunched for years at the Wolf River Society, exchanging stories with his Memphis buddies

Roy and Margie loved to travel and took cruises throughout the world. They made innumerable trips to Europe with their daughter, Lee, an art historian and specialist in Dutch and German art. When Roy had his fill of churches and altarpieces (pretty quickly) he would dive into cheese, salami and all the other rich foods that Margie wouldn't let him touch at home. During the 1970s Roy learned soaring and joined the Memphis Soaring Society, then located east of Germantown. When the club relocated to Cherry Valley, AK, Roy supported it by flying tow, cutting the grass in maintenance of the runways, and contributing funds towards paying off the loan. The present clubhouse is named the Roy Hendrix Clubhouse; Roy's latest initiative is the Roy Hendrix Soaring Scholarship awarded annually to a young person who wishes to learn to soar.

Like his ancestors, Roy was loyal to the Presbyterian Church. He was an elder at Second Presbyterian and a member of Idlewild Presbyterian Church. Margie and Roy found their final church home at Germantown Presbyterian Church, to which they remained deeply devoted. During his later years, Roy renewed his interest in his ancestral origins in Red Banks. He cleared the nearly forgotten and overgrown Canon cemetery there and he now funds its maintenance in perpetuum. Together with Nancy Goodman Mikell of Charleston, SC, whose forbears joined the Canons in building the Old Philadelphia Presbyterian Church in Red Banks in 1844, Roy has established the "Little Red Church" as a historic building and a non-profit, in the hope and dream of preserving it and re- establishing it as an operating Presbyterian church.

Roy leaves his beloved daughter, Lee and her husband Dexter Cannon (Mr. and Mrs. Dexter P. Cannon) of Los Angeles, his nieces Elizabeth James Baird of Memphis, Ellen Reilly Noland and Allison Reilly Gorman, both of Chattanooga, and a host of nieces, nephews, and younger cousins. We give heartfelt thanks to his loving caregivers, Tondalayo Claybrook and Franciella Nesbitt.

Visitation will be 4-6 p.m. Thursday, January 16th at Canale Funeral Directors. Funeral service will be 11:00 a.m. Friday, January 17th at Germantown Presbyterian Church with burial to follow in Memorial Park Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers please send contributions to the Margie L. and Roy W. Hendrix Family Fund of the Community Foundation of Greater Memphis in honor of the Old Philadelphia Church and the Mid-South Soaring Foundation, Roy Hendrix Soaring Scholarship, 2090 Old Oak Drive, Memphis, TN 38119.