Our family has owned the house on Hendrix Drive, now Hendrix Avenue, since February 14, 1964. My little brother's 2nd birthday. I always liked cameras and taking pictures back in the day, and I found one that I took in the fall of 1966. I was 6 years old. Here it is:
This picture was taken right in front of our house on the edge of our front lawn that Daddy always kept so beautiful. The people here were our neighbors then. I think this is a fine photograph of them for a 6 year old if I do say so myself.
They are from front, left to right:
Cindy Richards, Baby Doll the Scottish Terrier, and Karen Blazer.
Standing in back left to right: Judy Richards and Mr. McCarthy, Baby Doll's Dad.
I'll start with Judy Richards:
She was my age or about and she was very sweet. I loved playing with her because she gave out the best vibes and she wasn't bossy. Totally opposite than my other playmate, Kelli Blazer.
Kelli was very bossy and what I would now call a narcissist, or definitely a spoiled brat. I was very shy around her and found it hard to say no to her. I even remember hiding from her in the house a few times when she knocked on the door to get me to come out. I told mom to tell her I wasn't available. If I could talk to her now it would be a very different scene. She wouldn't be the last "friend" I had like that unfortunately. I seemed to attract them like mosquitoes.
Judy and Cindy had 2 brothers, Richie and Steven. They played with my brothers and got into a lot of mischief. Boys!
Back to Judy, she had red hair and freckles just like me and she was very nice to be around. I really liked her. Too bad their family left the block so soon. They must have left during the school day because I don't even remember saying goodbye to her. They were just gone. I never saw her or spoke with her again. I guess that is the way it is with kids who lose touch. I will always remember her as a very good friend. From a newspaper article, she was married and her name as of 2001 was Judy Richards Cooper and she lived in Keller, TX at the time. I hope her life has been a good one.
Cindy Richards:
Another nice girl with light red hair and freckles. She was my sister Catherine's age, born in 1957. I didn't know her that well because of the age difference. But she was always nice to me. Cathy liked her as a friend and spent time with her in the neighborhood. As I mentioned they moved away, I don't remember what year but it was before 1969-1970. Her married name was Cindy Richards Rogers.
Cindy stopped by in the 90s and visited mom for a while. Mom said she was wearing a nurses uniform if I remember correctly. Mom was surprised and happy to see her. That is the way Cindy was, a friendly, nice person, just like her sister Judy. She certainly remembered us, as we did her. Her mother, Kathleen Elise Richards was an alcoholic and her dad, William Vann "Bill" Richards was a Real Estate Broker and seemed to be a nice man. I remember seeing him a few times walk out his front door in a suit and tie with his briefcase and get in his car, going to work I suppose.
Cindy died on August 27, 2001 from what appears to be addiction issues, possibly what haunted her mother. It appears from her obit that she tried to kick her addictions because she belonged to I am so sorry that she is gone now. Rest in Eternal Peace Cindy.
Karen Blazer:
Karen was Kelli's big sister, again Karen was Catherine's age and they hung out together, so I didn't know her that well either. But I did know that she was a whole lot nicer than her younger sister. I always wished that she had been my friend and not Kelli. Karen was a brunette and Kelli was a blonde. I didn't mind having Karen around, in fact I wonder why she was in the picture and her sister was not. I was probably relieved that Kelli wasn't there. OK, enough about Kelli. Karen's married name is Holt, Karen Blazer Holt. She had two daughters Leslie and Anna. The Blazer's moved out of the neighborhood around 1970.
Mr. Will H. McCarthy and Baby Doll:
Mr. McCarthy, and Mrs. McCarthy as well, was a very nice neighbor. He loved Scottish Terriers, and Baby Doll was the first one that I knew of. Baby Doll was a quiet, nice little doggie. At the time that he and his wife lived on Hendrix, they had grown children, 3 sons from one of his brothers, who died in 1946. Their mother died in 1941 so someone had to step up for them. It doesn't surprise me that Will McCarthy did. He took all three of them and their house was not a big one. I think they had a daughter as well. The kids had all moved out when we lived there, I never remember seeing them.
I did a bit of genealogy research on Mr. McCarthy and perhaps I will do a separate blog on what I learned. He was born on St. Patrick's Day in 1906, a native of Little Rock and his parents were too. He had retired from the 555 Service Station, which when
it was built, was the largest service station
in the world. It took up the entire block between 2nd and 3rd on
Broadway, which used to be the main thoroughfare through Little Rock. I
believe it was 4 stories tall when constructed. The top floor even had a
ballroom and was a venue for big acts in Little Rock. One of the cool things that the ballroom had was a big, beautiful ornate crystal chandelier, which was given to the Woman's City Club on Scott Street after 555 was demolished in 1962, where it still hangs today. This is the chandelier at the Woman's Club. It is the only piece of 555 still in existence. Pretty fancy for a service station!
The pictures below are of the 555 Service Station.
As you can see from the first picture at the top of the blog, Baby Doll was an old girl in 1966. I have no idea when she died, but all of the sudden a year or so later, they had another Scottish Terrier named Tammy. Tammy was a little more sassy than Baby Doll, perhaps because she was younger. She liked to bark when us kids were near.
Mr, McCarthy died of a heart attack on November 29, 1968, in his living room chair while he was watching TV. His wife found him there, which must have been a horrible thing to see. He was only 62 years old. I hope Tammy was lovingly re-homed after his death. I don't think his wife kept her. She lived in the house about 2 or 3 more years before she moved out. Faye McCarthy died at 97 in 2007. He and his wife are buried at Roselawn Memorial Park in Little Rock.
The McCarthy house on Hendrix was purchased by a lawyer named Melissa. She still owns it but moved to a farm outside Little Rock where she could have a horse and other animals. She stores furniture there and visits once a week or so. She has let the house fall into a bit of disrepair unfortunately. At least she has the yard done regularly and put a new roof on the house.
Every time I look at that house I still refer to it as the McCarthy house. And when I think about those people I have written about today, they will always be as they were in the photograph I took in 1966. Exactly how I remember them.
