Herbert Hendriks Sr.

HERBERT HENDRIKS SR.

Mount Vernon

Herbert Edward Hendriks Sr., 96, a resident of The Meth-Wick Community in Cedar Rapids since 1996, formerly of Mount Vernon, died Tuesday, March 11, 2014, at The Woodlands. Services for Herb will be 3 p.m. Sunday, March 16, at Morgan Funeral Choices, Mount Vernon. The family will greet friends from 1:30 p.m. Sunday until service time. Herb's body was deeded to the University of Iowa College of Medicine.

Survivors include a son, Herbert E. Hendriks Jr. M.D. and his wife, Carol Ann, of Pine Mountain, Ga.; a grandson, Scott E. Hendriks (Cheryl) of Malvern, Pa.; a granddaughter, Dana A. Daniele (Erik), and great-grand-daughter, Samantha Anne, also Scott and Dana's mother, Joan D. Hendriks, of Coatesville, Pa.; two stepgrandsons, Jason and Brandon Milling; a step-great-grandson, Barry Milling; and cousins, nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 66 years, Luretta Tipton Hendriks; his parents; two brothers and sisters-in-law, Harold J. and Marian Hendriks and Leslie and Lorrene Hendriks; and a niece, Mary Luretta Hendriks.

Herb was born near West Liberty, the son of Edward and Alverda Flater Hendriks. He attended rural one-room elementary schools near West Liberty, graduated from West Liberty High School in 1936 and Cornell College in Mount Vernon in 1940. On Easter Sunday, April 13, 1941, he was married to Luretta Tipton in the William Fletcher King Chapel at Cornell by then College President Dr. Benjamin Magee.

Herb received his B.A. degree in geology from Cornell in 1940 and his M.S. degree and Ph.D. in geology from the State University of Iowa in 1942 and 1949. He was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Science by Cornell College in 2008 in recognition of his pioneering development Environmental Studies Program there.

Herb was a geologist and later also assistant mining engineer with Lone Star Steel Co. of Dainger-field, Texas, from 1942 to 1944 and a geologist with Sun Oil Co. in Jackson, Miss., from 1944 to 1945.

He was a veteran of World War II and a life member of Disabled American Veterans.

Dr. Hendriks was appointed to the Cornell College faculty in 1947, serving as the William Harmon Norton Professor of Geology from 1955 until his retirement in 1983. During his tenure at Cornell he also served briefly as both the acting personnel services dean and the acting academic dean. In 1975, he developed and was the first director of one of the earliest Environmental Studies programs in the nation.

Dr. Hendriks was a visiting Professor of Geology at the Miami University of Ohio Field Station near Dubois, Wyo., during the summer months of 1960 and 1972. He was a petroleum exploration consultant to various major oil producing companies from 1972 until 1980. Dr. Hendriks was a pioneer in the study of identification of certain highly complex geologic structures as the root zones of ancient meteorite impact craters.

He was a charter member of the American Institute of Professional Geologists, a fellow of both the Geological Society of America and the Iowa Academy of Science of America, of which he was president in 1970-1971, and recipient of the Iowa Academy of Science's Centennial Award in 1975. He also was a member of the Geological Society of Iowa, of which he served as both the president and secretary; the National Association of Geology Teachers, of which he served as president of its Central Section, the Society of Sigma Xi, Phi Beta Kappa, the Mount-Lisbon Rotary Club and the Mount Vernon United Methodist Church.

During his residency at The Meth-Wick Community, he served as chair of both the Deer Ridge Resident Assembly and its Executive Committee from 1996-1999.

Herb's many interests included gardening, wood working, fly fishing, classical music and opera.

Memorial contributions may be made to The Hendricks Geology Student Research Fund, Cornell College Development Office, 600 First St. W.; Mount Vernon United Methodist Church, 304 First St. W., both of Mount Vernon, IA 52314; or The Meth-Wick Foundation, 1224 13th St. NW, Cedar Rapids, IA 52405.

Online condolences: www.morganfuneral choices.com.