February 4, 1925—March 7, 2016
Ethel Mae Hendrickson was born February 4, 1925, in Buffalo County, NE, to Walter Earl and Alice Hazel (Mickish) Hendrickson. The great-granddaughter of homesteaders, she was the first member of her family to attend university and graduated from Iowa State University in 1949 with a Bachelor of Science in Journalism.
During college, she came to be known as “E.Mae” when the (male) editor of the Iowa State Daily told her that “Ethel Mae Hendrickson” was too long for a byline. “Do you want to be ‘Ethel’ or ‘Mae’?” “Neither one.” “Then do what the guys do. Do you want to be ‘Ethel M.’ or ‘E.Mae’?” And the rest is history.
A native of Nebraska, she created homes for her family in Iowa and Phoenix. She was a freelance writer and author of several books. In addition to her gift for words and a lifelong love affair with baseball, E.Mae will be remembered for her wit, energy, independence, strength, creativity, kindness, integrity and unconditional love.
E.Mae noted, “I’ve worn many hats.” They included daughter, wife, mother, grandmother, gardener, cook, flower show judge, writer, seamstress, needlework artist, baseball fan and more.
E.Mae loved telling stories, as evidenced by The Story of An Amana Winemaker and corporate history The Family of Hy-Vee. Her Prairie Kitchen Sampler, a cookbook/family history, chronicled her mother’s life as a Nebraska farm wife. She took it through three printings as publisher, then sold the softcover rights to Hyperion, an imprint of the Disney Company. Mickey Mouse took on a new significance.
In addition to her parents and a brother, W. Wayne Hendrickson, E.Mae was preceded in death by her husband of 47 years, the late C. Wayne Fritz. E. Mae is survived by two daughters, two terrific
sons-in-law and five “Grands,” her legacy.
Linda and Noel Corkery, Sydney, Australia
Allison Corkery, Brooklyn, New York
Elizabeth Corkery, Providence Rhode Island
Krista and Barry Rogers, Prairie Village, Kansas
Ben Rogers and his wife, Kate, London, England
Katherine Weaver and her husband, Alexander, Beverly Hills, California
Brian Rogers, Lawrence, Kansas
And finally, whenever we said goodbye, E.Mae would say:
“Let’s mark this to be continued…”
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