Feb. 26, 1940 – May 3, 2022
KINDER — Funeral services for Mollie Kay Melwood Hendricks, 82, will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 7, 2022, at Ardoin/Allen Parish Funeral Home of Kinder. The Rev. Kay Hebert, the Rev. Bill Vigo and the Rev. Louis Vigo will officiate. Burial will follow at LeBlanc Cemetery under the direction of Ardoin/Allen Parish Funeral Homes.
The family will receive visitors at Ardoin/Allen Parish Funeral Home on Friday, May 6, 2022, from 2-10 p.m. Visitation will resume on Saturday morning from 8 a.m. until time of service.
Mollie was born in LeBlanc to a large, poor family who worked in the logging business. She was the youngest of 10 children born to E.N and Allie Hendricks.
Mollie always had a quest for knowledge and was not going to let her circumstances of birth hold her back from obtaining a better life. This was not only a goal for herself, but for her parents as well. With parents born in the 1800’s she was one of only a handful of people living in 2 centuries…She left home at the tender age of 16 and did exactly as she set out to do. Armed with only an eight-grade education, she worked, got married, had children and then went back to school. Her first venture into the workforce was as an LPN—not long into this career, she decided it was not for her. She went back to school and began a business career. At the time, computer languages were evolving and floppy discs were the way to get the work done. She knew and could write programming for every language and system in use. She learned bookkeeping and eventually began working for Brown Building Materials; when she outgrew that position, she worked for Morgan’s Air Services until they closed. For the past 25 years she had worked for Vigo Masonry. Mollie went back to school and became a Notary Public. Her commission expired at her death.
Mollie had many obstacles in life; still she let nothing hold her back from pursing her strong held convictions and beliefs…not even family! She always said, “To thine own self be true.” She never allowed what others thought to interfere with what she perceived to be truth. She was a strong woman of conviction, a realist and still had a tender side for others. She was a firm believer in work ethic-she believed that everyone has the ability to make a better life for themselves.
When her children were young, she enjoyed gardening and canning, sewing and crafting. She always enjoyed fishing and the natural beauty God created for our pleasure.
Mollie held that getting an education was the most important thing to pursue to ensure being able to be independent of others—she was so proud of all her grands graduating and pursuing careers. Her granddaughter, Kellie, and her were extremely close. Kellie fed the cats, was a travel partner and enjoyed doing grocery runs for her grandmother. They enjoyed doing flea markets and watching good, clean, murder shows.
Mollie held strong convictions in her God and His ability to hold her children and grands as well as her posterity. She prayed for them and was so thankful for Rev. Kellie Vigo who became her pastor. She loved Vineyard and she loved the Vigos. Her strong faith saw her through many sorrows in her later years. She finally understood that God has a plan for all of us and He knew what was best for her. And she accepted this. She did not fear death because she was rooted in her God. Her ending prayer would be that everyone would know God and His love for them. Her presence will be missed by all who knew and loved her…she really was a gift to the world.
Those left to cherish Mollie’s memory include her two daughters, the Rev. Kay Hebert of Elton, and Deborah Savant and husband Pierre of Lake Charles; son, Michael Watson of South Carolina; ten grandchildren, Damon, Shawn, Albert, Leah and Bethany Hebert, Kellie Stack, Jill Lemaire, Mikey, Grace and JW Watson; twenty-seven great grandchildren; two great-great grandchildren; and was expecting two more great-great grands this year.
Mollie was preceded in death by her parents, Edward Narcietus Hendricks and Allie d’Angeline Covington Hendricks; her husband of 35 years, Jack Watson, youngest daughter, Patricia Menard; youngest son, Jack Alan Watson; youngest great granddaughter, Erynn Hebert; and most recently, her eldest great grandson, Joshua LeGros.
Words of comfort may be sent to the family at www.ardoinfuneralhome.com and our Facebook page-Ardoin/Allen Parish Funeral Homes.