Caroline Arthur Mauldin Hendricks was born April 17, 1914, in Columbia, S.C. to the late Anne Peyre Moore Arthur and William Weston Arthur.

After graduating from Sumter High School, she attended USC where she received an AB in sociology in 1935. At the university, she was a member of Pi Beta Phi Sorority. After college she was employed as a social worker with the Family Services Association, a job she held either part time or full time for 25 years.

While practicing case work she did graduate study at George Washington University School of Social Work, St. Louis. In 1966, she received a masters of education degree from USC. She taught exceptional children for ten years. Also in 1966, along with 33 other teachers, she received a grant from the Baruch Foundation to prepare a guide for teaching conservation. This guide was adopted by the S.C. Board of Education, and the program spread throughout many schools.

Mrs. Hendricks was a lifelong member of the Church of the Holy Cross, Stateburg and had been a regular communicant of both St. Johns Episcopal Church, Columbia and Christ Episcopal Church, Greenville. She was also a life member of the National Society of Colonial Dames in the state of S.C. While a member of the Greenville committee, she served as its chairman. The National Society placed her on its National Roll of Honor. She was quoted as saying, “This is the greatest honor I could have, and I will always be grateful.” She was also an executive council member of the South Caroliniana Society, Greenville Chapter of the DAR, and The SC Historical Society.

Affectionately known by many as “Happy,” she was truly loved by all who knew her. She enjoyed life and lived each day to the fullest. Nature and the environment provided her with the joys of shell collecting, wildflower walks, bird watching, gardening, and exploration. She also had an intense interest in genealogy and spent many hours researching and recording the past. Some of her happiest times were those spent with family and friends at her cottage on Pawleys Island.

She was preceded in death by her husbands Thomas Franklin Mauldin Sr. and Lewis Elliott Hendricks, her parents, and one brother William Weston Arthur Jr. She is survived by her sisters Amelia Arthur McFaddin and Anne Arthur, as well as her daughters, Caroline and her husband A. Norman Avinger III of Anderson, and Deborah Reed Mauldin of Columbia, and her son Thomas F. Mauldin Jr. and his wife Melanie Logan Mauldin of Columbia. She is also survived by her grandchildren: Mauldin Avinger and wife Caroline of Greenville, Frank Avinger and wife Carmen of Mt. Pleasant, Logan Milliken and husband Chris of Scottsdale, Ariz., Caroline Parker Mauldin of Washington, DC, and Thomas Mauldin of Mt. Pleasant; and her five great–grandchildren Caroline and Mary Mauldin Avinger, Alex Avinger, and Hutch and Parker Milliken.

The family wishes to express their sincere gratitude to Happy’s caregivers and Winyah Hospice.

A memorial service was held at St. John’s Episcopal Church, October 14 at 11 o’clock.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Winyah Hospice, 305 Stoneridge Drive, Columbia 29210, The Nature Conservancy, 2231 Devine Street, Columbia 29205, or The Church of the Holy Cross Building Fund, 335 W. Kings Highway, Sumter, SC 29154.