6/28/06 ~ 5/13/01 <! >
Rhoda Johnson Hendricks Hampton, age 94, a resident of the Idaho Falls area most of her life, passed away May 13, 2001 of natural causes incident to age.
She was born a twin, June 28, 1906, on a farm east of Idaho Falls to Gustaf and Anna Sophia Christenson Johnson. Her twin, Ruby was born one half hour later. They had eight older brothers and an older sister.
Rhoda attended elementary and high school in Idaho Falls. Following graduation of salutatorian of her class, Rhoda entered Nurses Training School at the newly-opened L.D.S. Hospital and received her R.N. degree in 1927.
Following her graduation from nursing school, she filled a 26-month mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, spending eight months in Minneapolis, Minnesota and 18 months in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.
After returning from her church mission, she entered Brigham Young University at Provo, Utah, where she organized the first nursing department and taught classes in Personal Hygiene. During that time she also served a year as school historian. She graduated from BYU with a degree in Home Management in 1934.
She returned to Idaho Falls where she became Public Health Nurse for Bonneville County which included supervision of nursing classes in the County Schools. She taught many classes in Home Nursing and personal hygiene.
On August 13, 1940, she married Milo C. Hendricks, a young building contractor, president of the Idaho Falls Construction Company. They parented four sons and a daughter.
When Milo passed away in 1951, Rhoda returned to the nursing profession.
In 1952, she married Delbert V. ("Shay") Hampton, a widower and former business associate of Milo Hendricks. Shay passed away June 21, 1982.
In 1954 she was stricken with what was thought to be Bulbar Polio which paralyzed her vocal cords and rendered her speechless for a year. She learned to speak imperfectly by using her throat muscles. Her affliction was recently diagnosed as a disorder of the basal ganglia of the brain, "Spastic Abductor Laryngeal Dysphonia."
She could no longer work in any capacity involving public speaking, so she supervised a number of nursing homes in the Idaho Falls area, principally the Carson Nursing Home at Rigby, Idaho for 17 years, between 1962 and 1979.
She was an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
She is survived by four sons: Thane J. Hendricks and Milo B. Hendricks of Las Vegas, Nevada; Lance B.
Hendricks of Billings, Montana; and Kent N. Hendricks of Edmonton, Alberta Canada; and one daughter, Karla Huntsman of Orem, Utah. She is also survived by 23 grandchildren, 27 great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren.
The funeral services will be under the direction of the Wood Funeral Home where a viewing will be held on Friday evening, May 18, between the hours of 6 - 8 p.m. Funeral service will be held at 10 a.m. at the 4th and 13th ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints located on 955 Memorial Drive. Interment will take place immediately following the services at Fielding Memorial.