A senate RESOLUTION

 

TO RECOGNIZE AND HONOR CLIFTON RUBIN HENDRIX, A DEACON OF GETHSEMANE BAPTIST CHURCH, AND TO REJOICE WITH HIM AND THE CONGREGATION AS HE IS NAMED A DEACON EMERITUS.

 

Whereas, the South Carolina Senate was pleased to learn that Clifton Rubin Hendrix will be named deacon emeritus at Gethsemane Baptist Church on February 18, 2024; and

 

Whereas, born on Sunday, July 21, 1940, Mr. Hendrix was the third child of eight siblings born to the late Lee and Beaudell Hendrix.  He had an idyllic childhood alongside his sisters, brothers, and neighborhood children; and

 

Whereas, his spiritual journey began on August 28, 1946, during a big meeting when he felt compelled to join Gethsemane Baptist Church, a commitment that has remained a source of pure joy as he continues to find blessing and privilege in serving his church and his community; and

 

Whereas, in the absence of running water and electricity in his home when he was young, his childhood was marked by the simplicity of fetching water for the household, cutting wood for heating and cooking, and helping his parents with other household chores before and after school; and

 

Whereas, during his youth he shadowed his father, learning the skills of wiring and plumbing as they worked on various homes in a hands-on apprenticeship, and they eventually acquired electricity in their own home.  Before he left high school, he was able to wire and plumb an entire house by himself, and he had gained an early and captivating fascination with electricity; and

 

Whereas, he thoroughly enjoyed his high school years, and he served as a school bus driver for his final three years.  Learning that family comes first, he helped his family by doing farm work in Blair after his daily chores and still found time to study his interest in electricity; and

 

Whereas, after he completed high school, he enlisted in the United States Navy and trained in a Class A School for interior communication electrician, motion picture repair, automatic telephone repair, and gyro compass repair at the United States Training Center in Great Lakes, Illinois.  He even provided audio for celebrities performing for Naval and Marine personnel during three different USO tours; and

 

Whereas, his naval career took him to duty stations in Jacksonville, Florida; Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; and aboard the USS Boxer.  He lived through the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Dominican Civil War, and he helped in the recovery of space crafts.  He ended his service in the Navy in 1966; and

 

Whereas, after working briefly for Uniroyal, he became a construction electrician for a contractor serving a new chemical plant in Calhoun County, and then he joined Carolina Eastman Chemical Company, a division of Kodak, where he spent over thirty-one years.  He retired in 1999; and

 

Whereas, after his retirement, he enjoyed travel and leisure for two years and then returned to work part time for fourteen years as an instrument and control technician at nuclear power plants throughout the East Coast and California; and

 

Whereas, together with his beloved wife of sixty years, Carrie, he reared three fine children.  His children have blessed him with the affection of loving grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  Now in his second retirement, he enjoys deep satisfaction spending time with his wife and all of his family and in serving his church; and

 

Whereas, the South Carolina Senate values the service of Clifton Hendrix to his God and to his country, and the members celebrate with him as he is named deacon emeritus.  Now, therefore,

 

Be it resolved by the Senate:

 

That the members of the South Carolina Senate, by this resolution, recognize and honor Clifton Rubin Hendrix, a deacon of Gethsemane Baptist Church, and rejoice with him and the congregation as he is named a deacon emeritus.

 

Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to Clifton Rubin Hendrix.

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