Margy Louise Hendricks Carlson, 91, of Rogers, Arkansas passed away peacefully on Monday, August 2, 2021. Born on April 3, 1930 in East St. Louis, IL, to Harley and Minnie (Bailey) Hendricks, Margy spent much of her early childhood moving around the upper midwest with her family, following her father's work as a troubleshooter for ailing foundries.When she was just eleven years old, a neighborhood boy named Wayne Carlson asked Margy to go to the movies with him. What started as a friendship, grew into 70 years of happy marriage filled with travel, operating successful businesses, dancing, fine-dining, bowling, golf, and the birth of two sons, three grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. Upon graduation from high school, Margy attended Kansas State Teachers College of Pittsburg and earned a degree in business education. Married on September 9, 1949, Wayne and Margy were the first married couple to graduate from what is now called Pittsburg State (1951).
After Graduation, Wayne and Margy lived in Amarillo, Texas, and Memphis, Tennessee, before finally settling in Bentonville, Arkansas. In partnership with her parents, Wayne and Margy founded Bentonville Casting Company on the corner of Eighth and J Street in Bentonville in 1954. Bentonville Casting Company designed and produced cast-iron machinery parts for industries across the nation, growing from ten employees to 150 at its peak. Margy played an integral role in overseeing the financials of the company, assuming a prominent role in the business when women were often not involved in matters outside the home. Wayne and Margy sold Bentonville Casting Company and retired in 1998, spending much of their time in Palm Desert, California, where Wayne enjoyed golfing and Margy relished the warm weather and sunshine.
Margy and Wayne had a dynamic social life with their large circle of friends, filled with dinners, dancing, social functions, and vacations together all over the world. Margy and her friends loved to bowl and competed in a ladies' league for many years, which ultimately evolved into a weekly "31" card club that Margy participated in until the week before her passing. Margy was a member of Sigma Sigma Sigma Sorority (Pittsburg, KS) and the Grand Chapter of Kansas Order of the Eastern Star (chapter 74) for more than fifty years and a Beta Sigma Phi member (Bentonville chapter). She was a wonderful wife, mother, and grandmother, loving, thoughtful, generous, stylish, and one who will be greatly missed.
Margy was preceded in death by her parents and husband, Wayne Carlson.
She is survived by her sons, Rick (Fredra) Carlson of Lawrence, Kansas and David (Viah) Carlson of Bentonville; her grandchildren, Eric (Kelly) Carlson of Leavenworth, Kansas, Kimberly (Kelly) Sullivan of Bentonville, and Michael Carlson (Madeline Lowe) of Bentonville; and her great-grandchildren, Derek and Dylan Carlson and Amelia and Avery Sullivan.
A private ceremony will be held at a later date. Please leave online condolences at www.bentoncountymemorialpark.com