Sue James Hendricks

1936 - 2025

Sue James Hendricks

Sep 4, 1936 - Dec 14, 2025

Sue James Hendricks, 89, of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, died on December 14, 2025.

She was born on September 4, 1936, in Martinsville, Virginia, to Allen and Paralee (Collins) James. She attended Furman University, where she studied music and psychology. While there, she met Ed Hendricks, her husband of 57 years. They married upon Sue's graduation in 1958 and moved to Winston-Salem in 1961.

Sue quickly became deeply involved in civic life, serving on the boards of the Winston-Salem Symphony Guild, the Wake Forest University Club, the Buena Vista Child Study Club, and United Way of Winston-Salem/Forsyth County. She was also a member of the Piedmont Triad Leadership Network, the Human Relations Commission, and the American Society for Training and Development. In 1988, one year after Kiwanis International began admitting women, Sue joined the Twin City Kiwanis Club. She served on its executive committee and as president and treasurer, later becoming a state and regional officer. In addition, she taught as an American Red Cross instructor for Advanced and Instructor's Qualifying First Aid courses and conducted workshops at the YWCA.

Sue taught grief counseling in the Forsyth Memorial Hospital School of Nursing and volunteered with families of terminally ill patients. During her time at Forsyth, she founded and conducted a choral ensemble, the White Caps Chorus, which recorded two albums. A lifelong musician-pianist, organist, and soprano-she participated in numerous ensembles and sang in the choirs of Wake Forest Baptist Church, where she also conducted several children's and youth choirs, as well as College Park Baptist Church and the Salemtowne Retirement Community.

Sue earned an MBA from the Babcock School of Business at Wake Forest University and became Director of Management Education and Training at North Carolina Baptist Hospital, a position she held ten years. After working five years as a private management consultant, in 1993 she joined the Winston-Salem Journal, where she wrote and edited K–12, a monthly magazine focused on education for Forsyth County students and their parents. She also served as an adjunct instructor at Gardner-Webb College's Broyhill School of Business.

After earning an associate degree in data processing from Forsyth Technical Community College, Sue became coordinator of MyCommunity.JournalNow.com, an online community supporting nonprofit agencies throughout the Piedmont. In retirement, she transformed the site into MyPiedmontCommunity.us and oversaw more than 1,000 websites.

While at the Journal, Sue also coordinated special projects, including curating an exhibition of the newspaper's photography, which led to the publication of her book 100 Years of Images: Capturing the Moment (Winston-Salem Journal, 1999). A lifelong cook, she also co-authored Old Southern Cookery: Mary Randolph's Recipes from America's First Regional Cookbook (Globe Pequot, 2020).

Sue was preceded in death by her husband, J. Edwin Hendricks. She is survived by her children, James Allen Hendricks (Lisa) of Wilmington, NC, Christopher Edwin Hendricks (Brian J. Martine) of Savannah, GA, and Lee Hendricks Turpin (Dennis) of Chatham, VA, and by her grandchildren, Grayson Turpin and William Turpin.

A memorial service will be held at Salemtowne, 190 Moravian Way Drive, Winston-Salem, NC 27106, at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 3, 2026.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the J. Edwin and Sue J. Hendricks Family Scholarship at Wake Forest University, University Advancement, 1834 Wake Forest Road Box7227, Winston-Salem, NC 27109 (https://donations.secure.wfu.edu/giving), the Sue James Hendricks Scholarship at Furman University, Office of Development Furman University 3300 Poinsett Highway, Greenville, SC 29613 (https://www.furman.edu/clearly-furman/donate/), or a charity of your choice. Condolences may be made online at www.salemfh.com.

Salem Funeral & Cremation Service

120 S. Main St., Winston-Salem, NC 27101