November 17, 1943 – September 17, 2026
Henry Earl Hendrix was born on November 17, 1943, in Laurel, Mississippi, about an hour from his family’s home in Toxey, Alabama. The third of four children of Roy Ledell Hendrix and Evelyn Bell Hendrix, he was named after his grandfather, William Henry Hendrix, though some affectionately called him “Henny Penny” as a boy. He grew up among family and the good people throughout Toxey who took pride in helping one another. Henry carried their example of kindness, dependability, and hard work with him throughout his life.
When the family moved to Texas in 1955, those qualities began to mature. He delivered newspapers and worked as an apprentice mechanic after school. His high school yearbook, filled with messages from classmates, repeatedly used words like kindest, nicest, and friendliest, revealing how they saw him. One thanked him for helping him get through a difficult time; another for helping them to pass Algebra.
After graduating in 1961, Henry joined the U.S. Air Force. He served until 1965, stationed in Abilene, Texas, and then later, as Henry liked to tell, he requested Hawaii for his final assignment but got Anchorage, Alaska instead. He came home a more disciplined, resourceful, and determined person known as “Hank”.
He returned to the South and began a career in finance in Mobile, Alabama. He married in 1966, and a promotion carried them to Pensacola, Florida, where their son, Kevin Lee Hendrix, was born when Henry was 23. From that day on, Henry poured the best of himself into being Kevin’s father, right through his final days.
In Pensacola, Henry became active in the Jaycees. To advocate for the release of American prisoners of war, he helped lead an effort by restoring a covered trailer and turning it into a traveling petition. With a huge roll of paper inside, it went from town to town collecting signatures of support before heading to the White House. At work, Henry opened new finance offices and trained staff, finding satisfaction in helping others grow.
His career eventually took him into the automotive business, where he met Marge Starnes. For 42 years, Henry and Marge shared a marriage grounded in love, and together they built a beautiful life. They shared the same mindset, a do-it-yourself spirit, made sacrifices, and turned a dream into something real. They gardened and enjoyed the blooms. They took great pride in loving, teaching, encouraging, and passing down important values to their two grandchildren.
Henry’s curiosity never rested. He enjoyed construction, woodworking, genealogy, gardening, and technology; he even wrote a software program for his business. He loved his brothers, sister, and parents deeply. He built a house for his mother so she could live nearby and look after her. Caring for family was woven into the way he lived.
Henry joined Springville United Methodist Church and was baptized in 1999, at age 55. He made treasured friends there and saw a need for the church to start an after-school tutoring program. Through the “Kid Success” program, he continued to give something his classmates and others had known about him years earlier: he loved helping someone with difficulties. All his life, he had an unusual instant recall of complex algebra and trigonometry formulas; God knew why and the eventual purpose it would serve. He spoke often of the children’s progress and the joy of watching them grow.
In his later years, Henry faced an incurable condition that slowly weakened the muscles he had relied on all his life to work, build, and lend a hand whenever someone needed him. After moving to Gadsden, he took great pride in his new home, cared about his new neighbors, and joined Rainbow Presbyterian Church. His strength changed, but his determination did not: he kept taking on things that others might have thought beyond him, finding ways to care for the place and people around him.
Henry was grateful for the Veterans Administration’s support and deeply admired the people who helped him challenge his condition. True to form, he found ways to help them and show his appreciation. Those who knew Henry in his final years saw that, although his muscles had weakened, he still found a new project to begin and finish each day. On September 17, 2026, Henry received his heavenly promotion, leaving us with a lesson he lived: make the days count, rather than count the days.
Henry was preceded in death by his parents, Roy Ledell Hendrix and Evelyn Bell Hendrix, and his brothers, Jerry Lee Hendrix and Hayward Ledell Hendrix. He is survived by his wife, Marge Starnes Hendrix; his sister, Mary Nell Collins; his son, Kevin Lee Hendrix (Chelesa Lewis Hendrix); his grandchildren, Halle Catherine Cloud (Stephen Joshua Cloud) and Jack Henry Hendrix (Noelia Voigt Hendrix); his great-granddaughter, Amelia Louise Cloud; one niece, Sandra Collins, and many cousins.
A celebration of Henry’s life will be held Friday, October 9, 2026, at Rainbow Presbyterian Church, 3220 Rainbow Drive, Rainbow City, Alabama. Visitation will begin at 1:00 p.m., followed by a service at 2:00 p.m.
The family is grateful for your prayers. In lieu of flowers, tribute gifts in Henry’s memory may be made to Rainbow Presbyterian Church, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and/or CurePSP (Progressive Supranuclear Palsy).
