If you look around your neighborhoods and dig deep enough in the Alamo Heights area, you’ll find that it’s very common to find families that have called the area home for many generations. A common theme is that this area naturally fosters a feeling of belonging to an inclusive community, where neighbors come together to help one another in times of need. This is the feeling described by a beautiful ’09 family.
Lee Anne and Stuart Hendry met on a blind date almost 40 years ago.
Stuart tells the story of a mutual friend in college who lied to both of them in an attempt to get them together. He must have been quite the matchmaker because he convinced each of them that the other one had seen him/her at a party and wanted to meet. Luckily they found the humor in their sweet friend’s deception and proceeded to see each other daily for weeks, eventually marrying in 1983.
Lee Anne attended TCU in Ft. Worth, while Stuart was just across the metropolis at SMU. They both began their careers and eventually decided to move south to San Antonio. Stuart built a career in commercial development and real estate, working with his father until they sold the company when his father retired. He then changed career paths completely, taking over Lee Anne’s father’s mechanical tool and fastener company when the family needed help leading the company into the new millennium. They sold the company in 2019, but Stuart continues to consult with one of the subsidiary companies in between his fishing trips and golf games.
When you first meet Lee Anne Hendry, she will give you the warmest welcome. A natural extrovert, she lights up the room with her smile and her friendly presence. She is also very down-to-earth, easy to talk to, and embodies the true essence of Texas hospitality. She is very proud of her family and says that they are truly blessed to live in a community that cares for one another. She speaks of a family tragedy that occurred when their daughter, Emily, was a toddler. She still gets emotional when she describes how their neighborhood and the community immediately came out to support her family with anything they needed. Lee Anne states that “Whenever there is someone in need, somebody jumps in to help.” It’s a concept that isn’t seen very much today, in the age where everyone is becoming increasingly more detached from other human beings, but it is comforting to know that it still exists here in our city.
The couple lives in a beautiful corner house with two lovable white Labradors, Jake and Molly. They are excited to bring up the next generation as they watch their three adorable grandchildren, Crawford (6), Lyles (4), and James (2) run around the house playing and chasing the dogs. Their daughter, Emily, a residential real estate agent, is married to William Cage, a geologist for an oil and gas company. He does a lot of prospecting for new fuel wells and calls his job “a daily treasure hunt where you never know what you’ll find.” The couple is very busy raising their children and is grateful that grandma and grandpa are just a few streets away in the same neighborhood.
Another thing the Hendry’s love about the area is the wide variety of restaurants, shops, and other businesses in 78209.
The family attends Redeemer Presbyterian Church downtown and attributes their good fortune to their faith and the kindness of the community that they call home. The cohesiveness of the ’09 community is best summed up by Lee Anne when she says, “They love well here.”
by Meredith Kay
Photography by Al Rendon
