Anne Henkels
Anne Henkels and her husband Maury moved to Fearrington Village from Orange County 11 years ago. Not long after moving to the village, Anne learned about Fearrington Cares and some of the services it offers. She found the Vendor List useful for finding handypersons, and when Maury became ill with cancer, Fearrington Cares RN/Executive Director Karen Metzguer helped him with medical referrals. Maury also took advantage of Karen’s on-site footcare clinic.
A few years after Maury’s death, Anne’s ophthalmologist told her that she needed cataract surgery on both eyes. The surgeries were scheduled several weeks apart. Anne did not want to impose on friends by asking them to drive her to the eye clinic, so she called upon FC’s volunteer driving service. On both occasions, the volunteer driver picked up Anne at her house, drove her to the clinic, waited until she was discharged, and then drove her home.
Anne says that FC’s services offer residents peace of mind, especially the many women in the village who live alone. Anne plans to age in place in Fearrington, partly because she knows that the services FC provides will make day-to-day living easier and safer.
Recently, Anne accepted an invitation to join the Board of Fearrington Cares. She did so because she wanted to help the Fearrington community, and she was pleased to be considered an asset to the organization. Not long after becoming a Board member, Anne volunteered to be one of FC’s Ambassadors. She likes to meet her new neighbors at the weekly East Camden gazebo get-together. “Now I get to meet new people and talk about Fearrington Cares at the same time,” she said, smiling.
In her leisure time, Anne enjoys reading and playing bridge. She used to paint, do chip carving, and teach quilting. Anne was also intrigued by glass blowing and welding but never pursued those interests. She and Maury were baseball fans and often went to ball games at the Durham Bulls stadium. Anne rooted for the Atlanta Braves, and Maury, a Bostonian, was a Red Sox fan.
In 1979 Anne inherited a house full of old furniture that became the seed of an antique shop she opened in Hillsborough. Maury and Anne attended auctions, country farm sales, and antique fairs in order to buy items for the shop. The massive monthly antique fair in Charlotte was a favorite venue for finding items for the shop. Anne closed her shop during the financial crisis of the late 1980s, when it became extremely difficult to obtain quality items for resale.
In recalling her girlhood, Anne explained that her father had believed that all young women should be self-reliant. So, when Anne was 10 or 11 years old, he taught her how to use both a rifle and a pistol, and a few years later, how to change a tire and check the oil level in a car. In so doing, Anne’s father helped her become the person she is today: a confident woman with a variety of skills and interests and an independent, can-do spirit.