Allie’s love for nature lives on at Ashland

Our beloved mother, Anne Allethaire (Allie) Hendricks, born March 7th, 1933, passed peacefully on Monday, March 31, 2025. As family and friends said their goodbyes, Chuck and I were by her side, witnessing her graceful transition into eternal rest. Letting go was one of the hardest things we've ever had to do—but we find comfort knowing her kind, generous spirit lives on in all of us who knew and loved her.

Allie, co-founder of Women, Inc.—a feminist counseling and education center—was born to push boundaries. A passionate activist during the 1960s and ’70s, she played a pivotal role in the women’s movement in Kentucky and beyond. When she wasn’t advocating for justice, she found peace in her garden or in the quiet of nature.

She had a gift for bringing warmth into every room and color into every garden she touched. Her legacy will continue to inspire us, and her absence will be deeply felt by many. She was our hero—and a hero to so many others.

Allie also deeply valued family. For decades, she and her brother made it a priority to gather everyone together a few times a year. Her children and her nieces and nephews grew up camping, being in nature, and creating memories that have now been passed down to the next generation. That commitment to staying connected shaped who we are as a family. She believed in family so much that she moved across countries just to be closer to her daughter and grandchildren.

To honor Allie’s love of nature, we’re raising funds to dedicate a memorial bench and plant trees at Ashland, The Henry Clay Estate.

We spent many days at Ashland—as kids, as teens, and now, as adults needing a moment of calm. It's become a place of peace and reflection, just as Allie’s garden once was to her. Henry Clay himself found solace on his walks and in his gardens, and that same tranquility lives on today for anyone walking the paths of Ashland, working through life’s challenges, or just taking in the beauty.

It feels only fitting to help preserve this special space in Allie’s name—where others can find the same comfort she did in the natural world.

I’ll never forget her saying, “Would you like to take a tour of the estate to see what’s blooming?” It wasn’t an actual estate, just her backyard garden—but to her, it was her sanctuary, full of beauty, color, and life.

Her smile, wisdom, love for learning, and compassion for all living things will live on in the lives she touched.

“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of those depths.”

— Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

We find peace knowing Mom is continuing her journey to the divine.

Our last visit to the Peony Garden at Ashland April 30th, 2023