Lucile McKee Hendricks
Widely known as McAllen’s First Lady, Lucile McKee Hendricks spent
a lifetime in advocacy and serving the public good.
Born in Tennessee
in 1909, Hendricks moved to McAllen when she was 17 years old, after her father
took a job with the prominent Shary family. One year later, she married Harold
Hendricks, a local contractor with whom she ran a construction business until
his death in 1964.
Hendricks was
already active in politics and public life by that point. A trail blazer in career, politics and education, Hendricks, who
passed away on Nov. 6, 2007 at age 98, achieved many “firsts” in her
life.
In the 1950s she was the first woman elected to McAllen School
Board (making her the first female elected official in Hidalgo County’s
history. She served three terms on
the MISD board and was its first woman president (1959-60). She was the first
lady on the Building Board of Adjustments and Appeals. She was also the
recipient of the McAllen Chamber of Commerce’s inaugural Woman of the Year
award in 1957.
She even served on
the Texas Democratic Executive Committee in 1956 until then-Sen. Lyndon B.
Johnson had her removed. She subsequently joined the Republican Party, of which
she remained a supporter throughout her life.
Always active in
politics, she encouraged young people, regardless of their party to study the
issues, be active and make themselves acknowledgeable voters.
She was a major
supporter of McAllen Citizens League’s
debates for local candidates.
She advocated
building more parks, keeping the character of individual neighborhoods intact
and, most famously, preserving trees — once convincing the city to create a
bend in a roadway to accommodate a large ebony one.
Lucile Hendricks,
the McAllen school board's first female president, respectfully declined when
the district offered to name a building after her. She believed buildings should
be named after people who have died, because they couldn't give anyone cause to
regret the decision later. The school board honored her request.