Charlotte Sherwood Hendricks Wiehrdt was called home on Saturday, Jan. 2, 2016, from her daughter’s home in Snowflake, just six days shy of her 99th birthday. Although she is gone, we continue to feel her love and influence. She was the epitome of grace and beauty, and left us with a legacy of faith and an example of true Christ-like service. Funeral services will be held at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 9, in the Alta Mesa Stake Center, 5350 McClellan Road in Mesa. Please join the family prior to services for a visitation from 9 to 11 a.m. at the same location. Interment will be held at Mt. View Cemetery, 7906 E. Main St. in Mesa. The last of five, Charlotte was born Jan. 8, 1917, in Hunt, Ariz., to William Wellington and Erma Udall Sherwood. Prior to her senior year of high school, she was sent by her parents to live with her Auntie Pearl and Uncle Joseph Nelson (owner of Salt Air) in Salt Lake City, Utah, to “get some culture.” She attended her senior year of high school at East High, where she was nicknamed “Arizona” because she wore cowboy boots instead of snow boots. After graduation, Charlotte returned to Arizona where she attended St. Joseph’s Hospital School of Nursing from 1934 to 1937 and graduated at the age of 20. She assisted in the first insulin shock treatment. Charlotte met the love of her life, Paul Hendricks while working in Miami, a small mining town in Arizona. They were married on July 27, 1940, in Florence. Paul’s life was cut short when he was electrocuted; he returned to heaven on Oct. 14, 1941, and has been patiently waiting for her to join him. Immediately following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Charlotte joined the United States Army in January 1942 as an Air Evac nurse at Luke Field, Arizona. She received flying instructions at Sky Harbor and flew 75 hours with 76 landings. She met the handsome and charming Leonard Irving Wiehrdt, a fighter pilot; they were married on Dec. 11, 1943, in Richmond, Va. Charlotte joined the 807th Squadron and was sent to Catania, Sicily, to replace nurses who were downed in Yugoslavia. Her military service included tours to Naples, Southern France, Rome, Italy and Germany. The newlyweds crossed paths throughout Europe as they completed similar tours. Charlotte received an Air Medal with three clusters in June 1944. Charlotte’s life was full of adventure as she followed her test-pilot husband to Air Force bases in California, Ohio, Florida, Iowa, Japan, Germany and Missouri, bearing and raising six daughters along the way and finally settling in Arizona. But if you knew Charlotte, there was no settling…her traveling spirit could not be stopped. She travelled to Spain, India, Peru, Nepal, Africa, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, and then took all six daughters to live in Bangkok, Thailand, as Leonard flew for Air America during the Vietnam War. While in Bangkok, she worked with a surgical team at a Vietnamese hospital in Can Tho. Charlotte was widowed a second time after Leonard’s plane crashed in Laos on April 8, 1972. Charlotte lived a beautiful life. She was a loving, energetic daughter, sister, wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and friend. She happily put her family above all else. She deeply cared for people, was notorious for her hospitality, and everyone was always welcome in her home. She was an active member of the LDS church; she served with all her heart. Faithful to the end, she lived what she believed. Her devotion to and confidence in her Savior, Jesus Christ, was central to her life. She served in the first Relief Society presidency in Bangkok, Thailand, served as a temple worker at the Mesa Arizona Temple, served a service mission at Deseret Industries and was Relief Society president in her ward in Tempe. She led an extraordinary life, she traveled the world and she was a wonderful mother deeply devoted to her six daughters, Madeline (Timothy) Dana, Marlene (Jon) Memmott, Monica Turpin, Milissa Sayner, Michele (Mark) Brown and Marion (William) Nelson. She leaves a legacy of love for her 35 grandchildren and 60 great-grandchildren. We are comforted to imagine a joyful reunion with those who preceded her in death, including her parents, three beloved sisters, Marjorie, Elaine and Mary, and her brother William Hubbell. She is survived by all of her children. Charlotte lived with her daughter, Marion, and her husband, Willie, who lovingly cared for her until her passing. Silver Creek Mortuary of Taylor was in charge of the arrangements.
