Carl Hendrickson let our news team know that he was unable to write his “Healthy Living” column for The Call in January.

After learning of his illness, I sent a note to Carl, reading: “Our readers and myself have enjoyed your columns through the years, along with your tenacity and positive approach toward life and the success of living a life filled with a wonderful wife and family, successful career and service to a constituency who elected you! We applaud your success and accomplishments serving as husband, father, grandfather, friend, writer, spokesperson, attorney and state representative.”

He shared with me at that time that he was getting therapy and working towards gaining his strength back. 

The Call Newspapers team was saddened to hear of Carl’s death on April 26. 

Recognition of Carl by another member of the community, as well as Carl’s obituary, are included in this edition of The Call on pages 8A and 16A, respectively.

A memorial and honorable recognition of a life well-lived will be celebrated on June 14 at 9:30 a.m. at Mary Mother of the Church, 5901 Kerth Road. Following the visitation, a mass will be held at 10:30, with a luncheon in the church hall to close out the celebration. Save the date for a special farewell to the community’s fellow neighbor, a leader and jack of so many trades, who was willing to share with us all the many decisive moments in a lifetime, his life’s journey.

Let us also take a moment to recognize a new class of seniors from eight local high schools in The Call’s 36th Annual Salute to 2025 graduates. Visit pages 11A, 12A, 13A and 14A in the May 22 edition of The St. Louis Call and/or click here to see more to see more. We want to extend our congratulations as each graduate begins a lifetime journey of experiences, charting their way in the world.

Let us wish them the success so well achieved by our friend, mentor and contributor, Carl Hendrickson. His past columns and words of wisdom live on and may be visited at any time with this 24/7 link.

Thank you, Carl.