04/08/2000
Memorial services for Havard Leo Hedrick, 88, of Davis, California formerly of Knoxville, who died April 8, 2000 at Sutter Davis Hospital after a short illness, will be held in Ames, Iowa in the early summer. Memorials may be sent to the Collegiate United Methodist Church, 2622 Lincoln Way, Ames, Iowa 50010 in care of the GS Nichols Scholarship Fund. His ashes are scheduled to be interred at the Story Memorial Gardens, Ames, Iowa.
Havard was born on August 9, 1911, in Marion County, Iowa, the son of Francis "Frank"
Ely and Nora Ethel Conley Hedrick. He was one of nine children. He lived on a farm
and attended country school until moving to Knoxville, Iowa to attend high school.
After graduating in 1929, he went to Ames and attended Iowa State College (University)
for a short period. He worked for his brother, Lloyd, who managed a clothing store.
He slept on a cot in the store at night. This was during the depression times and
money was very scarce, so Mr. Hedrick returned to Knoxville to find work.
He started work as a delivery man for Hedrick Dry Cleaners in Knoxville. His older brother,
Arthur, owned and managed the plant. This was the beginning of his life long profession.
He was a graduate of Silver Springs Dry Cleaning Institute, located in Maryland,
doing all the work by correspondence. He retired in 1985 after 55 years in the business.
He married Dorothy Enelma Hardin in 1932 and they spent 67 wonderful years together.
He and Dorothy moved from Knoxville, via Kalamazoo and Marshalltown, to Ames in
1941, raised four children there, were vigorous members of Collegiate Methodist
Church and actively involved in the community. They moved to Yolo County, California,
adjacent to the County Airport in 1995 where they quickly integrated into the Davis
and West Plainfield communities. They were active in the Davis United Methodist
Church.
In addition to his family, Mr. Hedrick loved animals, nature, collecting rocks,
taking his dog on regular walks to the park and in the woods, vegetable gardening,
and dancing to music with a snappy beat. He had a firm sense of who he Havard Hedrick
was and allowed others the freedom to develop their own identity with his encouragement.
He is survived by his wife, Dorothy of Davis; children, Norma Lee (Hedrick) Hall,
Tucson, Arizona, Jerry Leo Hedrick, Davis, Roger Kenneth Hedrick, of Lafayette,
Louisiana, and Dan Frank Hedrick, of Louisville, Kentucky; 11 grandchildren and
17 great-grandchildren. Also surviving are his sisters, Edith Ethel (Hedrick Redden)
Reed of Marshalltown, Iowa, and Pauline Gay (Hedrick) Sadler, of New London, Iowa;
sister-in-law Jennie (Handeland) Hedrick: former sister-in-law, Dana (Wickliff)
Hedrick.
He was preceded in death by his parents; his daughter-in-law, Dorothy Claire (Butts)
Hedrick; sister, Hazel Blanche (Hedrick) Mark; brothers Lloyd Elsworth, Forest Everett,
Arthur Ellis, Clifford Reed, Francis Herald, and Walter Paul Hedrick, infant; sisters-in-law,
Helen "Fern" (Yale), Gretta La Verne (Nofsger), Inez Pearl (Core), and Grace Belle
(Stevenson) Hedrick; and brothers-in-law, Dewey Merritt Mark, Robert Henry Sadler,
Bernard Jacot Redden and Robert James Reed.