Norma Hendricks

Journalistic career Hendricks had a family history of journalism with a grandfather from Chattanooga, Tennessee who worked on a local paper there as editor and a sister who worked on the Daily Commercial's society page. After becoming windowed in 1944, Hendricks found an interest in journalism while working as a society editor with her local newspaper, where she encountered cops on a regular basis by spending time at the police station and following them to scenes they were called to.

While on the staff of the Daily Commercial, Hendricks reported on many topics, such as police reporting and local goings-on that would later become local history.

Political career

While working for the Orlando Sentinel, Hendricks frequently reported on city commission meetings, becoming familiar with how cities were run. In 1962, she decided to run for city council, becoming the first woman to be on the Leesburg City Commission. During her time on the council, the mayor at the time died unexpectedly. Norma then became the first female mayor of Leesburg, Florida, pro tem. While Leonard was still alive, the two of them had two sons, Calvin Michael Hendricks and Carroll Gay Hendricks. She farmed the small orange grove her husband had gifted her a few years after they had been married for a short time after Leonard's death but did not make a profit. Her signature when writing her columns was a picture of her wearing a different kind of hat. a member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy,