Obit – Mr. Bobby Hawkins
Mr. Bobby Hawkins, age 69, of Gordonsville went to be with his Lord and Savior at his Pig Branch Road hilltop farm at 12:20 a.m. Monday morning, July 25, 2022, with his wife and children by his side. Mr. Hawkins had fought and endured a battle with lung cancer, with which he was diagnosed on June 4th of 2021.
A memorial Celebration of Mr. Hawkins Life was celebrated on Thursday afternoon, August 4th, at 4 p.m. from his beloved Gordonsville First Baptist Church. Mr. Hawkins son, Bro. Rodney Hawkins, and Mr. Hawkins pastor, Bro. Ray Gilder, eulogized with words of comfort and reflections on his life for his family and friends.
The youngest of three children, he was born Bobby Wayne Hawkins in Carthage on September 2, 1952 and was the son of Jackson County natives, the late William Franklin “Bill” Hawkins, who died March 11, 1980 at the age of 54, and Gwendlean “Gwendle” Hawkins, who died March 28, 2008 at the age of 83.
The Hawkins family also suffered the loss of Bobby’s brother, William Stanley Hawkins, who died at the age of 70 on October 23, 2021.
Mr. Hawkins was a 1970 graduate of Smith County High School where he majored in science. He was a member of the pep club all four years, was in the junior play and spring festival his junior year, and the fall festival his junior and senior years and his sophomore year was a member of the agriculture class.
It was stated of him in his senior annual that: “Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes”.
Mr. Hawkins was saved at the age of 15 at the Plunketts Creek Missionary Baptist Church and in 1975 he joined the Gordonsville First Baptist Church, and in 1980 he was honored to be appointed a Deacon to serve the church where he remained a faithful and dedicated member until death.
On January 13, 1972, Mr. Hawkins was united in marriage to his high school sweetheart since the age of 16, Carthage native, the former Paula Frances Watts. The ceremony was performed at the Jackson Avenue home of her parents, James T. “Pete” and Evelyn Pettross Watts. Eld. Charles Jones officiated at the ceremony. Bobby was a loving husband and Paula’s best friend
Mr. Hawkins honorably served our country with the United States Army during the Vietnam War. He was inducted in Nashville on August 14, 1972 and was honorably discharge with the rank of Specialist 4th Class at Fort Devens in Ayers, Massachusetts on June 11, 1974. While in the military he served as a military policeman and for his meritorious service he was awarded the Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, and a Sharp Shooter badge for an M-16 rifle and a Master Marksman Badge with a 45 caliber pistol.
Even though he had a life of public employment, most of Mr. Hawkins life was devoted to farming and he was a great lover of the land and enjoyed camping and anything involving family.
For eighteen and one half years he was employed with the Jersey Minere Zinc Mine at Gordonsville, and at the age of 50 received his Machinist Degree from the Tennessee Technology Center at Hartsville.
After receiving his new found career degree, he was employed at Sims Recycling Center in Smyrna, until his retirement in 2014.
A Southern gentleman in every respect, he had a continuous smile for everyone with whom he came in contact with and held fast to Proverbs 22:1, “A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favor rather than silver and gold”.
He was the best father to his children any child could ask for and was a Christian example to them until the very end.
Surviving, in addition to his wife, Paula, of over fifty years are their four children with whom Paula and Bobby were richly blessed, Rodney Hawkins and wife, Jennifer, of Pulaski and their two children, Lucas and Landon, Kimberly Hawkins Barlow and husband, Casey, of Murfreesboro and their two children, Hannah and Andrew, Krista Hawkins Denton and husband, Ryan, also of Murfreesboro and their two children, Jackson and Catherine, Melissa Hawkins Thompson and husband, Jim, of Huntsville, Alabama and their six children, Isaiah, Isabell, Caroline, Jacob, Lewis and Nathaniel; sisters-in-law, Cindy Hawkins of Gordonsville, Phyllis Eckel and husband, Don, of Gordonsville, Patty Watts Slagle and husband, Jerry, of the Dixon Springs community; several nieces and nephews.
The Hawkins family has requested memorials to the Gordonsville First Baptist Church.
SANDERSON of CARTHAGE
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