SUMMERS COUNTY W.Va. (Hinton News) – John Hendrick who many of you know as “the farmer” from War Ridge Rd. Wayside, WV passed away on December 18. 2024 at 86 years old. John and his wife Betty became good friends of mine and my family throughout the years.
Our meeting was quite the happenstance. I had written a letter to the editor looking for pieces of furniture that had been built by my great-great-grandfather L.W. Thompson in Talcott around 2011 or so. I was contacted by my late cousin Ginger Snider, whose maiden name was Thompson. She was from Hinton, but our paths had never crossed before.
Her best friend was John’s wife Betty who had an oak buffet built by L.W. in 1948. She sold it to us so we could keep it in the family. Ginger had known my Grandfather Bernard Thompson when they were children, but as it so often occurs they had lost touch when they got older and she moved away.
It wasn’t long until Ginger and Betty had us doing all of the things they were involved with. Summers County Historical Society, Friends of the Library, Children’s Home Society (if you are from Summers County you probably know about the huge barn sale that Betty has had for over 20 years to benefit the Children’s Home Society). It is held in John’s barn in War Ridge.
And then convinced us to become members of the Ballengee Farm Club in Wayside, WV. This is where my friendship with John really started as he served as president of the club. He made the joke to me and I was recently reminded of it by his son John Jr. where he would say, “I had to move away and make some money so I could afford to come back to West Virginia and farm.”
After retirement, he moved back to Marie where he and Betty built up the family farm and enlarged the old farmhouse. John’s father stressed the importance of education and John carried this throughout his life. He had graduated 8th grade from Crossroads School after attending the one-room Davis School in Ballengee. He graduated high school from Wilkinsburg High School in Wilkinsburg PA in 1956. He graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 1960 with a BS in Mechanical Engineering, and from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh in 1966 with a Masters in Industrial Management. Long after his formal education, John continued to attend various cattle and agricultural conferences, most often through West Virginia University, Virginia Tech, and the West Virginia Extension Agency.
His education was a great success as it led to him having begun his career working on the nuclear submarine program at Westinghouse Corporation. He also worked for Moog, Inc. in East Aurora, NY where he moved from engineering to sales. Later he worked at American Tool in Cincinnati, OH as Vice President. He was then recruited by Mitsui Machine Tools as President at their Long Island, NY office and lastly became President and Chairman of Okuma America Corporation in Charlotte, NC. John was honored to have served on many boards of directors especially on the board of Moog, Inc. Throughout his professional career John was widely regarded for his leadership abilities and marketing prowess.
After returning to the community John built the farm club back up. Served on the Board of Directors of the Hinton Area Foundation. John was a long-time supporter of The Children’s Home Society of West Virginia. He was a member of many associations including the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, West Virginia Farm Bureau, and West Virginia Cattlemen’s Association. John never turned down a request from Summers County 4H, Summers County Schools, or Community organizations. To say John lived and breathed the farm life would be an understatement.
John will be long remembered for his caring and compassion, his quick wit, and for mentoring so many throughout his life. He was devoted to his family and friends and dedicated to improving his farm and community.
One of my fondest memories of John is the fact that he helped me relearn to not be afraid to speak in public. In 2023 he invited me to be the guest speaker at one of our farm club meetings. I think at that point I had written 7 or 8 of these Summers County history stories. I am over 100 stories now. I took several of the items my stories are centered around and talked about them.
