Pearl Hendrix loved her job at the CTA but also dreamed of one day opening her own business, her family said Saturday.
Hendrix, 40, of Markham, died early Saturday after falling on the tracks at the Addison Street Blue Line station on the Northwest Side and being electrocuted, authorities said.
Hendrix was working as a flagger to signal trains on the track level when she fell around 1 a.m., according to the police and CTA spokesman Brian Steele.
She was dead at the scene., according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office, which said she fell on an electrified rail.
Hendrix grew up in Markham and graduated from Bremen High School in Midlothian, according to her sister Vannesta Wilson, who said she went on to get an associate’s degree from ITT Technical Institute and also completed massage school.
She had worked for the CTA for nearly three years.
“She was a people person, always smiling,” Wilson said. “She had the biggest personality, always an encouraging word for someone. She really loved her job at the CTA. That was her thing.”
Wilson said her sister had big dreams and was always working on projects that she hoped might one day turn into a business. Her mother said she was a hard worker and a good daughter, who had big plans.
“God, we’re just really going to miss her,” Wilson said. “She was special.”
Hendrix attended Victory Temple Church of God in Christ in Midlothian, where her family said arrangements for her funeral are being made.
Contributing: Daniel Brown
