Gerald "Jerry" M. Hendricks

Gerald M. “Jerry” Hendricks, 76, passed away on December 14 as a result of Alzheimer’s Disease. He was born in Detroit, Michigan, on April 7, 1939, the only child of Ben and Viola Hendricks, and spent his childhood with a loving extended family. Jerry fell in love with the clarinet in elementary school and, at the age of 15, successfully auditioned for the Cass Technical High School marching and concert bands. His years at Cass Tech increased his love for music and math and he excelled in both subjects. In 1958, he followed his parents and other family to Southern California where he and his wife, Sharon, and welcomed three children, Melinda, Nancy and Roger. After nine long years, Jerry graduated from California State University at Long Beach and began his career as a Civil Engineer. He served the cities of Anaheim, Norwalk, Cypress and Placentia (where he had the distinction of being the youngest public works director in the state of California), and Santa Barbara County before moving to Pullman, Washington in 1972 to become the Director of Public Works. After transitioning to the west side of the mountains, he worked for Kramer, Chin and Mayo; Thurston County; City of Tumwater; Pierce County; and the State of Washington Transportation Improvement Board. He retired in 2002. Jerry was a tireless volunteer during his retirement years, and served as a board member for the Washington State Employees Credit Union, a volunteer and board member for the Centennial Station committee, chairman for the SPSCC CADD advisory board, adjunct faculty member at St. Martin’s, and various other positions. In 1999, he re-discovered his love of music, particularly, the clarinet, when he started playing with the Olympia New Horizons Band. He served as the president of the band for 10 years, and was a member of the board of directors for the New Horizons International Music Association for three years. In 1984, Jerry met and married Carolyn Johnston Berg, and later adopted her son, Adam. Jerry and Carolyn designed and built several homes together, including a beach cottage in Gleneden Beach, Oregon, which was a featured home design in Country Living Magazine. Jerry is survived by his wife, Carolyn; daughters, Melinda Mayer and Nancy Borkowski; sons, Roger Hendricks (Deb) and Adam Berg (Molly); grandchildren, Joshua, Brooklyn, Natalie, Jensen, Max and Ryan; and two great-grandchildren. Please leave memories of Jerry or condolences for his family in the Guestbook below.