June 2021
Citizens Memorial Healthcare Facility is an affiliate of CMH , Bolivar , Mo ., 417-326-6000 Facility Location : 1218 W . Locust St ., Bolivar , MO 65613 , 417-326-7648
E m i l y H e n d r i c k s R e s i d e n t o f t h e M o n t h
Emily Hendricks was born July 15 , 1945 , to Gilbert & Emily Conforti in Honolulu , Hawaii . Emily ’ s mother was a homemaker and her father was a project manager for IBM . Emily has two younger sisters , Anna and Susan .
Emily ’ s father was a Marine , stationed at Pearl Harbor when she was born . He was reassigned from Hawaii to New York and raised his kids in New York . Emily attended elementary school in Hyde Park , New York . Her father ’ s job with IBM moved the family to Kingston , New York where she would eventually receive her high school diploma . In January of her senior year in high school , her father ’ s job once again transferred them , this time to Houston , Texas . Due to spending most of her high school years in New York , she was able to receive her diploma and walk with her friends during graduation in New York and also received a faux diploma at her high school in Texas . Her father flew her back to New York just for graduation . After graduation , she attended college at Gulf Coast Junior College in Houston . She received her secretarial degree .
Emily ’ s dream had always been to work for NASA . During the time her family lived in Houston , IBM , the company her father worked for had a contract with NASA . Shortly after , Emily was employed at NASA working as a secretary . About a year into her job , her supervisor approached her to ask if she would be willing to be the secretary for an Army camp that was on the property until they could fill that position . She agreed and then found out she was to work out of a tent in the hot sun . She soon found out how warm it really was in Houston . Six months later , they found her replacement . She then got mono and was very sick for a couple of months . When she was better , she went back to work for NASA for another two years . Her family lived behind NASA in Clear Lake City . She said it was a community within a community containing their own grocery store and movie theater . Several astronauts also lived there .
While working for NASA , Emily met Norman Anderson who was a camera man for NASA . He went on trips with the astronauts and took pictures for them . One day , he came into her area where she worked and began a conversation . Two weeks later , he asked her out and she quickly replied , “ No .” He asked four or five more times and received the same reply from Emily . She was just being stubborn . The last time he asked her out , he asked her why she wouldn ’ t go out with him and she said because he had never sent her a telegram . Two days later he sent her a telegram to her mailbox that said , “ Will you go out with me ?” She said “ Yes ” this time . During this courtship , Emily ’ s father was transferred back to New York . Before they moved , Norman and Emily were in the car and he said , “ I want to ask you a question . Will you marry me ?” He then placed the ring on her finger . Her answer was , “ Sure .” Emily moved back to New York with her family until her marriage to Norman in July 1968 . Thirteen years later , their marriage ended in divorce . To this union her three wonderful children were born , Brian , Robert and Deana . She said the birth of her children , four grandchildren and one great-grandson have been the highlight of her life .
Emily spent time working as a secretary at a daycare in Poughkeepsie , New York and at Barnett Bank in New York . While working for the daycare , her boss had her visit the homes of the children who hadn ’ t been at daycare for a while to check on them . They teamed up with the Division of Social Services to watch over the children from troubled homes . She worked with a very interesting man while at the bank named , Alfred Butts . She enjoyed all of their conversations together . Years later she found out that he was the inventor of the game Scrabble .
She shared a funny story of living with her family in Houston . When her youngest sister was taking piano lessons one Saturday , the teacher who was a friend of Emily ’ s said she would come back to the house and take Emily out for ice cream after she had supper . Emily was nineteen at the time and had a curfew of 11 p . m . They were thirty minutes away from home and she told her teacher / friend they better get home before her dad got upset with her . They hit a bump on the highway and she looked behind them and saw a lot of red all over the highway . She said it looked like blood . They stopped the car to check and found it was only a watermelon . On down the highway , there were police stopping everyone because a truck carrying watermelon had lost them all over the road . By the time they got the road cleaned up , it was after midnight and she said , “ My dad is going to kill me for being late .” The piano teacher tried to start the car and it wouldn ’ t start . A police officer walked over to help and couldn ’ t get it started either . The policeman gave them a ride home . When they pulled into her driveway , her father was pacing . The officer explained to him what happened and he was relieved to find out why she was so late . When Emily and her father walked into the garage , she asked her dad , “ Would you have believed this story if I would have been the one to tell you what happened ?” Her father said , “ No I would not have believed you .” She said , “ I didn ’ t mean to scare you , but was glad the policeman was here to explain .”
When Emily moved to Bolivar in 2008 , she spent her time volunteering at CMH at the front desk in the hospital and at the Senior Center . She has always loved to spend her time helping people by talking to them , giving them uplifting cards and making meals for them when they are sick . She is very loving and nurturing towards her peers and brings a smile to everyone she sees .
Emily joined our CMHCF family in June 2020 and her favorite things about living at CMHCF is wonderful care she receives from the staff . Congratulations Emily on being chosen as our resident of the month .