Dolores Hendon

Dolores Althea Reinike Hendon, age 91, of North Little Rock, Arkansas, passed away peacefully on March 19, 2026. She was born on August 7, 1934, in Long Beach, Mississippi, to Chester and Edna Reinike. She was the twelfth of fourteen children in a family as wide and warm as the Gulf Coast she grew up on. Dolores attended St. Thomas Elementary School before going on to Long Beach High School, where she met the love of her life, Edwin Harry "Shorty" Hendon. The two were later named Mr. and Miss Long Beach High School their senior year, a distinction she carried with quiet pride for the rest of her life. She worked during those early years at Woolworth's and later as a secretary for Boggs Insurance Company. She went on to work for the Registrar at Louisiana State University.

In 1964, she and Shorty made their way to North Little Rock, Arkansas. Dolores embraced her new home with the same whole-hearted devotion she brought to everything. She sent all five of their children to St. Patrick School, and on to Catholic High and Mount Saint Mary. She became a fixture at their sporting events — one whose sideline commentary the referees came to know quite well. She was a devoted Razorbacks fan and a studious presence at Oaklawn Park. She was a proud, lifelong member of St. Patrick Catholic Church where she threw herself into parish life with extraordinary generosity. She served on any committee that needed her and, by most accounts, was the visionary responsible for bringing funnel cakes to the St. Patrick Church and School Carnival.

Her home was her canvas. Dolores kept her yard and flowers with an artist's eye and a gardener's devotion. She surrounded her home with flowers and trees that drew more than one city beautification award — from her beautifully manicured lawn to her legendary Christmas holiday display that lit up the neighborhood every December. She loved everything that bloomed, and we take comfort knowing she can now see it all in vivid color. She adored a stunning flower arrangement and loved spending time in North Little Rock’s Tipton and Hurst talking about all things flowers with her friends who ran the store. She dressed impeccably, and her makeup always perfect while zipping around town in her favorite little gold Volvo — a car she never quite stopped missing. Other hobbies and interests include her beautiful embroidery, love of reading, and fitness. She could be found most early evenings with her good friends walking the track at Northeast high school.

Christmas was her favorite season, and she hosted it the way she hosted everything: beautifully, generously, and with everyone welcome. But entertaining was never limited to one holiday. She adored gathering the family at the lake every summer, hosting the church youth group for cookouts, and filling the calendar with birthdays and holiday parties that gave everyone a reason to come together. She and Shorty made it a point each year to pack up the kids and make the trip back to her beloved Long Beach and New Orleans to visit her siblings and their families. Her sisters would settle in patiently while Dolores worked through the past year's photo albums, every page filled with the friends and family she loved.

And she documented all of it. Everything and everyone was subject to her trusty camera lens: her children, her grandchildren, her flowers and trees, and the everyday moments that she understood were worth keeping.

Generous to a fault with her church, her community, and anyone who needed a hand, Dolores helped countless people without ever expecting a thing in return. She instilled in her children that same devotion to family, and the legacy she leaves behind is measured not in what she accumulated, but in what she gave away.

She would tell you that her greatest accomplishment was being a homemaker and mother to her five children, and her second greatest was becoming "Nommie" to thirteen grandchildren and one precious great-granddaughter. Those who loved her would say she undersold herself on both counts.

She is survived by her brother, Vernon Reinike (Stephanie) of Biloxi, Mississippi; her five children and their spouses: Steven Hendon (Claudia) of North Little Rock, Arkansas; Gregory Hendon (Jo Alice) of Lakeland, Florida; Lisa Strack (Paul) of Maumelle, Arkansas; Gretchen Farrell (Craig) of Little Rock, Arkansas; and Eric Hendon (Jennifer) of North Little Rock, Arkansas; thirteen grandchildren, Asher, Allison, and Aidan Hendon; Michael (Jessie), Matthew (Dominique), Amanda and Anna Strack; Joshua, Jack, and Chase Farrell; and Bryson, Tessa, and Gaston Hendon; and her great-granddaughter, Maisie Strack.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Chester and Edna Reinike; her loving husband, Edwin Harry "Shorty" Hendon; and brothers and sisters: Henrietta Reinike, Irma Lillian Reinike, Elizabeth M. Reinike, Marie (Cassidy), Betty (Dubuisson), Thelma (Bistes), Mildred (Perrier), Catherine “Sissy” (Cooper), Victor, Bernard H., Ray, and Roy Reinike. The family would like to extend heartfelt gratitude to Dolores’s caregivers during her final years.

Services will begin on Wednesday, March 25, 2026 with a Visitation from 5:00-7:00 pm and Rosary immediately following at 7:00. The Funeral Mass will be on Thursday, March 26, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. All services held at St. Patrick Catholic Church in North Little Rock, Arkansas.

The family requests that memorials be made to Catholic High School for Boys, Little Rock, Arkansas; Mount Saint Mary Academy, Little Rock, Arkansas; or St Patrick Catholic Church, North Little Rock.