Herman Robert Hendrickson, 87, of Sauk Centre passed away Oct. 25, 2024. He was living at the time at Knute Nelson Grand Arbor in Alexandria. He was born in a cabin on Mud Lake in Kandota Township Oct. 10, 1937, to Herman and Ruth (Kircher) Hendrickson. Herman grew up in the rural farming community of Little Sauk and attended a one-room schoolhouse in Kandota Township until he began attending Sauk Centre High School. Herman excelled at schoolwork, particularly in the sciences, and graduated from high school in 1955.
Herman was the first in his family to attend college when he matriculated at Concordia College in Moorhead on a football scholarship. Herm also was a member of the Cobber track team. He earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry. Herman followed his scientific passions and earned an Master of Science from the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa, and a Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. He made significant contributions to the understanding of cellular neurobiology. One of his most cited works was “Studies on the structure of heparin” in the Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics in 1962, as part of his MS thesis. His biochemistry PhD dissertation was published in 1970, with the title “Nucleotide Pyrophosphatase of Rat Liver: Its Location in the Plasma Membrane and Identity with Phosphodiesterase I.”
Herman married Marianne Hoffart of Missoula, Montana, June 12, 1961. They met at Concordia College in the chemistry labs. Marianne’s on-campus job was to manage and distribute chemicals for experiments, and Herman went to her to collect the chemicals that he needed for classwork. They were married for 56 years and together had four children. She preceded him in death on Oct. 5, 2017, and life was never the same again.
Herman was an active member of Calvary Lutheran Church in Little Sauk and yet spiritually tied to the land and soil of his farm. Gardening and growing food were his passions, particularly garlic. He was known to grow over 1,000 pounds of garlic in a year. The rich, dark loamy soil of his farm was well suited to growing this valuable food crop. Herman also was a founding member of the Whole Farm Co-op in 1997, serving on its board of directors and even driving the refrigerated truck to deliver products from family farms around Todd County to customers in the more densely populated areas of Minnesota. The co-op was a concept ahead of its time that Herman championed with his expertise, time and values-driven integrity.
Herman will be greatly missed by his family and friends. He is survived by his children Erika (Jim) Lage, Kristi (Dave Balaam) Hendrickson, Kai Hendrickson and Heidi (Lou) Igo and his grandchildren Madelynn, Nicolas, Brianna, Lewis, Amelie and Claire. Additionally, his brother Roger and sister Vicky and their families still reside in Minnesota and Canada.
The funeral service will be at 11 a.m. Friday, Nov. 8, at Calvary Lutheran Church in Little Sauk with visitation at 10 a.m. and burial following at the adjacent cemetery grounds. The Rev. Allan Mortenson will lead the service. Lunch will be served in the church reception hall after the burial.
In lieu of flowers, please go plant a tree or two.
