Ida Joyce Hendricks-Walker, longtime schoolteacher and church leader, has died at 76

Ida Joyce Hendricks-Walker, 76, of Philadelphia, longtime elementary schoolteacher for the School District of Philadelphia, church leader, and musician, died Friday, Oct. 11, of complications from vascular dementia and other issues at her home.

Mrs. Hendricks-Walker grew up in West Philadelphia, earned degrees at Overbrook High School and Cheyney and Villanova Universities, and spent 37 years, from 1972 to her retirement in 2009, working with young students at Edward Heston Elementary School and what is now Guion Bluford Elementary School in West Philadelphia.

She considered studying medicine after graduating high school in 1966 but became a teacher instead so she could help others form their futures through education and her mentorship. “She inspired [her students] to take what they learned and go on to pursue their dreams and goals in life,” her family said in a tribute.

Ezekiel Crenshaw, her late husband’s grandson, said: “She had a heart for children and education.”

Mrs. Hendricks-Walker especially enjoyed teaching reading, math, and science, and former students greeted her often when she was out and about with family and friends. “She was special to them,” said longtime friend and fellow teacher Wilhelmena Calland.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in education at what was then Cheyney State Teachers College in 1971 and a master’s degree in education later at Villanova. She taught for a year in Trenton before joining the staff at Heston in Philadelphia.

“She had patience and didn’t speak down to students,” Crenshaw said. “She listened well, and I never saw her angry.”

A lifelong member of New Bethlehem Baptist Church, Mrs. Hendricks-Walker was a deaconess and superintendent of Sunday School, and taught Sunday classes for nearly 50 years. She also sang in the adult choir and Singing City Choir of Philadelphia, and was director of the New Bethlehem youth choir.

She played piano and viola, and was so effective as a director that other churches asked her to organize their choirs and music programs.

She studied at Manna Bible Institute, was active with the Pennsylvania Baptist Congress of Christian Education, and served as president of the West Philadelphia Baptist Congress of Christian Education from 2008 to 2012. She mentored young writers in a contest at church. Her favorite saying was: “God is good.”

“Joyce was a beautiful person,” a friend said in Facebook tribute. Other friends called her “sweet, loving, kindhearted” and “an angel on earth.”

Her family said: “Kindness and giving showed up in many phases of Joyce’s life.”

Ida Joyce Hendricks was born Sept. 4, 1948, in Philadelphia. She grew up at 54th and Media Streets, and played viola in the school orchestra. Her mother, also called Ida, took her to the Philadelphia Flower Show, local fashion shows, and Christmas caroling in the neighborhood.

She went to Sunday School and sang in the children’s choir at New Bethlehem, and studied through the Baptist Training Union. She and longtime friend Shirley Jean Waites-Howard modeled their handwoven hats and handbags on the Romper Room TV show as first-graders, and Waites-Howard said: “That was a beautiful memory for me.”

She had son Claude Theon in 1980 and married Alvin Walker in 2001. Her son and husband died earlier.

Mrs. Hendricks-Walker enjoyed dancing, reading James Patterson novels, and gardening. Her TV was usually tuned to the Hallmark channel, and she liked to meet up with former classmates at Cheyney reunions and longtime friends in groups they called the Lunch Bunch and Disco Queens.

“She was kind and compassionate,” Crenshaw said. “She was always willing to help. She had a servant’s heart.”

In addition to her husband’s grandson, Mrs. Hendricks-Walker is survived by other relatives. A sister died earlier.

Services were held on Oct. 25.

Donations in her name may be made to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Box 22324, New York, N.Y. 10087.