Gardner "Pete" Perry Hawkins II

Gardner Perry Hawkins “Pete” – entered into his final rest on Thursday, January 28, 2016, in Olympia, Washington.

Pete was born in Stanley Basin in rural Idaho, June 5, 1921, the first child of the marriage of Gardner Perry “Doc” Hawkins and Hallie Gertrude Chapman. He had two older half-siblings (now deceased), Lancelot and Lillian Hawkins, as well as a younger sister, the late Grace (Hawkins) Benefiel and a younger brother, V. A. “Jack” Hawkins of Spokane, Washington.

Pete lived in Idaho only for his first year as the family relocated to Kansas City, Mo., and then to Houston, Mo. Pete recalled the trip across Missouri in a wagon pulled by mules; his mother baked Grace a cake for her fourth birthday on the trip. His family lived through extremely hard times during the dust bowl years. He joined the Civilian Construction Corps at age 16 and afterwards worked as a hired hand and as a short-order cook. In St. Louis, he met and married his first wife, Oly; but when he joined the Navy in the spring after Pearl Harbor the marriage didn’t survive. A son, Gardner Leroy Hawkins, was the product of this marriage. Leroy was adopted away to a family Pete knew well, and though they always kept in touch Pete’s life was always affected by his feelings about this decision.

Pete became a Navy cook and was present for the invasion of Africa, serving near Safi and Casablanca, Morocco. He loved sharing that while there, actress Martha Raye appeared in a USO show, and he baked her a cherry pie. She came to his kitchen to personally thanked him for the pie, which she proclaimed as “wonderful.” Injured in an air raid, he was sent home to the USA for surgery, and then remained in the Navy to make seven convoys across the Atlantic. He was in London on convoy for the victory in Europe.

Returning home, he met and married Eileen Harris (now Nelson, of Seattle, Wash.) in 1945. They lived in St. Louis and produced three children there: Gale Cypher (Olympia, Wash.); Gwen Shapiro (Durham, N.C.); Gardner Perry Hawkins III (Olympia). Moving to Seattle, Wash. in 1955, they had three more children: Gerald (Santa Clara, Calif.); Gregory (Lake Stevens, Wash.); and Geni (Auburn, Wash.). Pete and Eileen divorced in 1960.

Pete remarried in 1966 to the late Alta (nee Peterson) Shielee. This union brought several young step-children that Pete accepted as his own: Wayne Shielee (Gresham, Ore.), the late Robert Shielee, and Elaine (Shielee) Eggink (Las Vegas, Nev.) and their older sister, Joan Marshall. Pete had ten grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, and he added to that Wayne’s three children and their families and Joan's daughter.

Pete worked as a taxi driver and dispatcher, and later drove buses for Seattle Transit and the Northshore School District. Settling in Bothell, Wash. in 1962, he worked for Northshore until his retirement in 1983, as bus driver, custodian, maintenance worker and warehouseman.

Pete was an avid fisherman and hunter in his active years. He played league softball for Seattle Transit and won a number of trophies at table tennis. He was also an avid pool player and bowler for many years. Pete always enjoyed being busy and kept a garden, building his own greenhouse to enable him to have fresh tomatoes. He enjoyed using a variety of CB and other two-way radios. He was quite active in the American Legion, and was Post Commander of the Bothell-Woodinville post.

Pete was known for his smile and the twinkle in his eyes. He enjoyed telling stories and tall tales. He loved watching baseball and was a proud St. Louis Cardinals fan until the Mariners came to Seattle and his loyalties moved to them. He enjoyed meeting famed announcer Harry Caray at a spring training game and they spoke about Caray’s broadcasts of the Cardinals games in the early 1950s.

Pete developed COPD around the age of 80, and the need for oxygen began to limit his mobility. He later developed a severe aortic aneurysm, and that condition further restricted his activities. Pete kept his mental faculties throughout his late life, until a broken bone in his hip joint required surgery, from which he never fully recovered. Pete had the constant attention of family through his declining health. He was also helped in the final weeks by the Cassidy Family Home of Olympia.

A memorial service will be held at Floral Hills Cemetery, on Friday, February 5, 2016, at 1 p.m., with a graveside service at 2 p.m. There will be a gathering immediately thereafter at the Holiday Inn Express in Lynnwood.