The Grande Dame with spunk: Incomparable Lucile Hendricks
To know her was to admire her. Lucile Hendricks, a pioneer woman who could stand toe to toe with any man and usually come out the winner with her quick wit, sharp mind, and high IQ, with lit cigarette in hand back in the day when almost everyone was smoking. Indeed, she was indeed one of a kind.
Hard to believe it’s been 15 years this month since McAllen’s grande dame and pioneer businesswoman died at the age of 98, active to the very end, ready to discuss politics, local and national, to anyone eager for a good conversation. Her one drawback if you want to call it that? She didn’t suffer fools gladly.
Lucile, by the way, after whom McAllen ISD’s Lucile McKee Hendricks Elementary is named, was a trail blazer in the RGV who became the first woman elected to McAllen ISD’s Board of Trustees, also becoming its first female board president. She was also named the McAllen Chamber’s first Woman of the Year.
A civic leader, teacher, historian, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and “unofficial” First Lady of McAllen, Lucile as she loved to be called – forget that stuffy Mrs. Hendricks stuff unless she didn’t know you – was born in Tennessee on Nov. 5, 1909 before moving to McAllen with her parents at the age of 17 in 1926.
Back then, her dad, B.F. McKee, was a big deal in local circles, working as the comptroller for John Shary, living in a home near what is now the historic Shary Estate.
At the age of 18, Lucile married Harold Hendricks who must have thought he hit the jackpot because here was a young woman who was not only beautiful, but intelligent, hard-working, and a joy to be around, with her ready smile and vivacious spirit.
Together they raised a family, built a home in an old pecan grove where La Plaza Mall would later stand, breathed in the beauty of life together until fate sucked the wind out of Lucile’s sails with the death of her husband in 1964.
At the time, Lucile had learned the construction trade from her husband, helping him build the family business, so with his passing, she was able to take over the business reigns, making her one of the RGV’s very first female building contractors. If anyone in the business thought she’d be a pushover because she was a woman trying to make it in a man’s world, they soon learned that she could give as good as she got. Nail for nail, tooth for tooth, bring it on.
Twenty-one years later, in 1985, after constructing many local commercial structures, at the age of 76, Lucile hung up her hammer, blueprints, hard hat, and decided to enter local politics, which was the same year she was elected to the McAllen ISD Board of Trustees, making her the first female elected to any public office, big or small, in Hidalgo County.
Raised to be an egalitarian – equal rights and opportunities for everyone, no matter their class, race, ethnicity, language proficiency, or status in life – Lucile worked to ensure that all the students in McAllen received a quality education, no matter which side of town they resided.
When I first met Lucile, she was probably in her early 80s, but I could tell right away that growing fond of this woman was an easy task. No-nonsense, but fun, which isn’t always an easy personal combo to develop. Plus, she loved to talk politics. Local, state, national, it didn’t matter. Whichever political boob was on her radar – good times, listening to Lucile shake her head over their duplicity, riddled with stupidity.
Back then, though, for the most part, politics was at least civil. Nothing like it is today, sad to say.
Besides business and politics, Lucile also loved the arts and helped raise money to develop and promote a Pops Concert, while co-founding the Rio Grande Valley International Music Festival, which brought the San Antonio Symphony to the McAllen area for one week each year, long before this area had much in the way of quality, cultured, entertainment.
Last but not least, an anecdote which shows that you didn’t mess around with Lucile. She started out a Democrat, eventually becoming a member of the State of Texas Democratic Executive Committee in 1956 at the age of 47. For some reason, never the brightest bulb on the planet, LBJ, then a U.S. Senator, had her removed from the state committee. The reason why is lost in the annals of time.
Rather than admit defeat, Lucile turned right around and got heavily involved in the Republican Party of Hidalgo County and was later honored as Hidalgo County Republican of the Decade, giving her the sobriquet “Aunt Polly,” short for politics.
To sum up her life, perhaps it’s best to quote from her 2007 obituary, which described Lucile as a “jewel, a treasure chest of knowledge, and a woman of extraordinary character value.”
Indeed, she was a joy to know.