Junior Hendricks

Junior Hendricks, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, passed away Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2001, at a Fort Worth hospital. Funeral: 10 a.m. Saturday at North Side Baptist Church. Burial: 3 p.m. in Waco Memorial Park, Waco. Visitation: 6 to 8 p.m. Friday at the funeral home. Lt. Col. Junior Hendricks, retired, a true family man and patriot, was a man of his word. He was born Oct. 21, 1920, in Arizona. Junior was an avid outdoorsman all his life and liked nothing more than hunting and fishing with his buddies. He was a life member of the NRA and many other sports and hunting clubs. He was an accomplished gunsmith and did lots of work for local law enforcement. Junior entered the armed forces in World War II after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He flew P-51s and later trained others to fly the P-51s during the Korean War. Junior later went on to fly B-52s from the 9th Bombing Squadron based out of Carswell Air Force Base in the 1960s. He proudly served as chief of bombing operations during the Vietnam War during his two tours. Later, Junior was base commander at Matagorda Island. Junior retired at Dyess Air Force Base in 1973, having proudly served for more than 32 years. He stood for honesty and courage and fought the good fight. He was preceded in death by his wife of 57 years, Elizabeth Hendricks, in August 2001. Survivors: Sister and brother-in-law, Robinita and Wilber Lindsay of Los Gatos, Calif.; son, Steven Carl Hendricks and wife, Cheryl; daughter, Janet Louise Sharp and fiancee, David Marrs; grandsons, Jacob Lee Sharp and James Morgan Sharp; and many other family members and friends.