A strong and gentle spirit has gone to be with her Creator.
Dorothy Chapman Hendricks passed away after a lengthy battle with dementia on July 28 at home in Gate with her loving husband, Richard Hendricks, and other family at her side. She was 93 years old. Her beauty was enhanced by her perpetual smile, and she always looked forward to each new day.
Dorothy Doreen Kirkpatrick was born on March 14, 1931, in Ponoka, Alberta, Canada. She and her family came to the United States and settled in the Shoestring valley, east of Onalaska, in 1937. She kept a pioneering spirit her whole life, born in part by a childhood fascination with an 1883 poem by her grandfather, “The Gypsy’s Wanderings,” about his wide-ranging travels.
She married Calvin Guy Chapman on June 5, 1948, after graduating from Onalaska High School. They had two children, Jerry Guy and Susan Joy.
After raising their children on a ranch at Littlerock, Washington, Dorothy and Calvin moved to a farm in Pe Ell and enjoyed retirement together. She cared tenderly for Calvin when he was diagnosed with cancer.
After being widowed in 1985, she moved into Centralia and took a job at the Weyerhaeuser Research Center. She fondly remembered buying a cool Chrysler Laser sports car with her first year’s wages.
She met the second love of her life, Richard Hendricks, at an outdoor opera concert she helped organize at her old farm in Pe Ell.
She and Rich were married on Aug. 18, 1991, with that opera singer singing “Beautiful Dreamer” for them. Together they ran a successful nursery and topsoil business. They created a beautiful home and park in Gate, including a small pond where she kept two pet sturgeons that she fed by hand. They also built a narrow-gauge riding railroad that was beloved by family and friends of all ages.
Dorothy and Rich enjoyed swimming and canoeing in the Black River at their home and traveled widely, taking cruises, hot air balloon rides and memorable flights over Mount Denali in Alaska and the Grand Canyon.
Dorothy was the matriarch of a loving family that treasurers her memory.
She requested that her passing be marked in the way she lived her life: simple and unassuming. In that spirit, a graveside service will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 17, at Alpha Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donate to your favorite charity in her honor.
