Dennis Wayne Hendrickson (73) was born on December 17th 1945 in Tulsa, Ok to Orange Lee and Erma Hendrickson. He grew up in Tulsa with his 2 brothers, Gary and Bruce and attended Osage Hllls Baptist Church where he met his future wife Marilyn as  a teenager. When he graduated high school in 1964,  he enlisted in the Army and served until 1967 when he was honorably discharged with the rank of Specialist 5 Mechanic.

His mechanical skills led him to graduate from the Spartan School of Aeronautics in 1968 with a certification in Airline Service Mechanics.



He reconnected with Marilyn, at church, in the winter of 1967 when he tried to take her out on New Years Eve. To his surprise, she already had a date and left him there dumbfounded because he already had the night all planned out in his head. He didn't give up trying though so they ended up dating for six months before getting married on October 12th 1968.



He became a career employee with the City of Tulsa after the Aerospace Industry declined. Over the years, Dennis took on more responsibilities in the maintenance division to enhance his skills. He as a hard worker who pushed through all extremes of weather to get his job done because he had a young family to provide for. His determination and strong work effort opened the opportunity to go to college and receive a degree in Business Management to which he applied towards his promotion into management. He retired in 1999 after 30 years with the city as the Facility Maintenance Manager over two police garages.



Over the years, the family grew from just him and Marilyn to 4 beautiful children: Susan, Dennis Lee, Melinda, and Danny. Dennis never stopped providing the best life he could offer to his wife and kids. In his early years of retirement he enjoyed tinkering with family cars when they needed repairs or he was bored, and passed on his mechanical knowledge to his sons so they too could work on cars. In the later years of his retirement he was blessed with the energy and laughter of his 7 grandchildren: Ashley, Tiffany, Elise, Jackson, Sierra, Gunnar, Jacie and his 4 great grandchildren: Vincent, Macy, Mia, and Rayden. When the grand-kids came over, almost daily, it was the highlight of Papaw's day.



After a long and full filling life, Dennis went to be with the Lord surrounded by his children on March 18th 2019. His lasting legacy is the life lessons that he taught his children to always love each other and do everything in their power to provide a good life for his grand-kids.