Charles C. “Charlie” Hendricks loved Guilford. He loved the college so much that he was buried wearing his class ring and with his arm around an alumni directory. Hendricks died in his sleep Nov. 20 at age 86 in the Friends Homes at Guilford. He is survived by a niece and by many loving friends.

A graveside service at Springfield Friends Meeting and a Quaker service of remembrance at New Garden Friends Meeting were held Nov. 23 and Nov. 27, respectively. A memorial service for students, faculty, staff, and alumni will be held on-campus in February.

The college memorialized Hendricks in his lifetime: Hendricks Hall, the building that holds the college’s advancement office as well as the Center for Continuing Education, was named in his honor in 1983. In 1993, the Charles Hendricks scholarship and the Hendricks Distinguished Service Award were created to honor Hendricks’s work for Guilford.

Hendricks was a Guilford icon: a man who knew everybody, and a man whom everybody knew. He encouraged four generations of students to apply to Guilford, befriended those students as undergraduates, and welcomed them back to their alma mater as alumni. His devotion to the college earned Hendricks the nickname “Mr. Guilford.”

Hendricks came to the college as a student in 1936 and never really left. He graduated in 1947, after spending World War II in the Buck Creek Conscientious Objectors Camp. After graduation, he went on to work in 13 different positions at Guilford, with job titles as varied as manager of the college’s soda shop, assistant to the president, and director of admissions. He served under five of Guilford’s presidents: a phenomenon, considering the college has had only eight.

At the time of his death, Hendricks was still on the college’s payroll, as special consultant for Institutional Advancement.

“He kept working right up until the end,” said Charlie Patterson, who worked with Hendricks in the advancement office beginning in 1998. When Hendricks’ health began to fail and he couldn’t make it to the office, the advancement staff would bring paperwork to Charlie’s house, according to Patterson. This would annoy Hendricks-he felt like he should be at his desk, not in bed.

“Charlie basically invented admissions in this state,” said Vice President for Enrollment Randy Doss ’82. He noted that Hendricks was the president of the first CACRAO (Carolina Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers) and added that Hendricks incorporated traditionally black colleges into the association.

“CACRAO is challenged to perpetuate the vision and the indelible legacy of Charlie Hendricks as we lead the way for the millennium generation,” wrote Jocelyn L. Foy, the 2003-04 association president, in a resolution commemorating Hendrick. “Charlie’s life, laughter, love and compelling legacy will live on for decades and generations to come.”

President Kent Chabotar described Hendricks as “a one man encyclopedia of Guilford” who could recount stories about alumni from the last eight decades.

Although he witnessed sweeping changes in Guilford, Hendricks did not live in the past, according to Chabotar.

“Charlie was always about what was happening today. The war in Iraq, the controversy over (Rep. and planned commencement speaker) Howard Coble – Charlie never lost an interest,” Chabotar said.

His relationship to Guilford’s newest president testified to Hendricks’ willingness to accept change within the college. Some members of the Guilford community were against appointing Chabotar to the presidency, as he is the first non-Quaker to fill that position in the college’s history. Hendricks, a birthright Quaker, advocated for Chabotar’s appointment.

Not long after his inauguration, Chabotar was at Hendricks’ house and noticed that every other Guilford president had his picture on Hendricks’ mantle.

“Hey Charlie,” Chabotar teased. “How come my picture isn’t here? You got something against Catholics?”

Hendricks laughed it off, but not long after, he invited Chabotar back. On the mantle was a picture of Guilford’s newest president, “and slightly bigger than all the others, too.”

Everybody who knew Hendricks has a Charlie story to tell. Libby Rich, who worked as Hendricks’ secretary since 1998, described his answering machine message as Hendricks saying simply “You know what to do.”

“Charlie,” she said. “This is too abrupt. You need to say something else.”

Hendricks changed the message to “This is Charlie Hendricks. You know what to do.”

Doss’ favorite Charlie story is about a NC State admissions officer on a solitary vacation in Colorado. The man was out fishing on a boat on a quiet lake. The last thing on his mind was work. Another man in a boat idled up to the admissions officer and the two started talking about where they from. The second man was from Alaska.

“You’re from North Carolina?” he said to the admissions officer. “North Carolina. Huh. I don’t think I know anyone from North Carolina. Wait … have you heard the name Charlie Hendricks?”

The best Charlie story of all may be Hendricks’ own story of his unusual life. In 2002, Robin McWilliams ’93 helped Hendricks write his memoirs, titled Ask Charlie: The Life and Times of Guilford College Legend Charles C. Hendricks. The book is a guided tour of Hendricks’ history and his incredible service to Guilford.

On Nov. 23, Hendricks was laid to rest at Springfield Friends Meeting in High Point.

That day, a late-autumn rain fell on dozens of Hendricks’ friends. They stood shoulder-to-shoulder around his grave, sheltered under a canopy of black umbrellas.

As the casket was lowered, the melody of “Amazing Grace,” Hendricks’ favorite song, floated over the heads of the mourners and climbed into the cloudy November sky.