Lena Irene Hendrickson

Lena Irene (Blezius) Hendrickson, 93, recently of Brooksby Village in Peabody, and also of Danvers and Lynn, Massachusetts, died peacefully on Thursday, April 7, 2022 after a brief illness. She was born on September 29, 1928, in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, of parents Johan and Irina (Kopšic) Blezius. She was preceded in death by the love of her life and husband of 42 years, the Reverend George Hendrickson, originally of Brockton, her brothers, Matthew, Johan and John Blezius, beloved niece, Sharon Blezius, all of Canada, and beloved cousin, Djura Djurkovic of Croatia. She was the loving mother of her four sons, Paul and his wife Christine, David and his wife Brenda, Stephen and his husband David McCord, and Ray and his wife Karyn; loving grandmother of Greg and his wife Jane, Cherie, Jonathan, Nicole, Ryan and his wife Stephanie, Kevin and his wife Emma, Scott Ray, Michael Brightwell and his husband Chase, and Kelsey LaGross and her husband Jason; loving great-grandmother of Nathan, Grace, Hannah, Aiden, Connor, Kathryn, Dean, Lincoln and Colton; loving aunt of Valerie and her husband Greg, Mike and his wife Julie, Jeff and his wife Lucie, all of Canada; loving great-aunt of Nathan, Joel, Deanna and Mandy of Canada, beloved of their spouses and children; loving cousin of Ljubica, Albina and Marjana of Croatia, Suzan and Joe of Australia, beloved of their spouses, children and grandchildren.

Lena (4), and Matt (10), returned with their Mom to Plavna, Vojvodina, a small farming village in the former Yugoslavia, just before their brother John was born. Tragically, Irina passed 16 days after giving birth, and they were raised by their grandmother. They returned to Canada just before the outbreak of World War II. Their father had remarried Julia, a Hungarian widow, after a brief visit to Plavna. She became an abusive stepmother, resulting in both Matt and John running away from home. Lena converted from Roman Catholicism to the Pentecostal faith as a teenager, and came to Providence, Rhode Island to attend Zion Bible Institute, where she met George Hendrickson. They were married in 1949, one week after graduation. They served as faithful ministers of the gospel for forty years at churches in Colchester, Connecticut, Readfield, Maine and Sanford, Maine before moving to Lynn, Massachusetts in 1969 where they served at the First Assembly of God until George’s untimely passing from cancer in 1991. Their home in Lynn was the birthplace of Christian Book Distributors and Hendrickson Publishers, where she worked for over forty years as credit manager, and was affectionately known as “the chaplain of Christianbook.” “Mrs. H” was a beloved spiritual mentor to hundreds over the years, a shining example of her Christian faith. She was a faithful member of Calvary Christian Church in Lynnfield, and served with distinction on the board at her alma mater, now Northpoint Bible College of Haverhill, Massachusetts. In the mid-1980’s, she and George visited her childhood home in the former Yugoslavia, an annual trip they continued for several years, which would include family visits as well as speaking at local churches, where she would often give her stirring testimony in Croatian. She loved visiting her Canadian and Croatian relatives on every occasion possible. After living for many years in Danvers, she moved to Brooksby Village, Peabody, in 2015.

Visitation hours will be on Wednesday, April 13, from 3-7 p.m. at Cuffe McGinn Funeral Home, 157 Maple Street, Lynn. The funeral will be at Calvary Christian Church, 47 Grove Street, Lynnfield on Thursday, April 14, at 10:00 a.m., officiated by the Reverend Timothy Schmidt. Graveside services will follow at Pine Grove Cemetery in Lynn. At the request of the family, masks are requested to be worn for all services.

The family is grateful for all your prayers and expressions of love at this time of loss.

In lieu of flowers, donations to honor Lena are welcomed to New Europe Vision, for their relief efforts in Ukraine, Attn. Cathy Royer, 140 Summit Street, Peabody, MA 01960, or to Northpoint Bible College, 320 S. Main Street, Haverhill, MA 01835.