Merrill Perry Hawke, 94, of Little Flock, Arkansas, died Saturday, March 27, 2021, at Circle of Life Hospice in Springdale. He was born August 30, 1926, in Beldon, Ohio, to Floyd Oliver Hawke and Martha Bertha (Oldenburg) Hawke. He was the youngest in a family of eight and grew up during the Great Depression. He left the farm and served in the U.S. Navy. He spent time on an aircraft carrier in the Pacific at the end of WWII.
He married Marie Virginia Michael at Carlisle, Pennsylvania in 1951. They lived in Valley City, Ohio, and had four children. He worked at NASA (now named the Glenn Research Center) in Brook Park, Ohio while earning his physics degree at Baldwin Wallace University. He then worked as a physicist at Kelly AFB in San Antonio, Texas. Upon his retirement, the family moved to Gateway, Arkansas.
He enjoyed gardening, going to state and national parks, studying the Bible, birdwatching, painting, drawing, and keeping abreast of current events. He was reserved and stoic with a dry sense of humor, and was very good at building houses and fixing things.
He was preceded in death by his wife Marie and his son, Nathan Michael Hawke.
Survivors include his son, Nelson Perry Hawke of Indianapolis, Indiana; two daughters, and a son-in-law, Nedra and Thomas Pence of Norman, Oklahoma, and Nadine Hawke of Bartlesville, Oklahoma; and two granddaughters, Alyssa and Amanda Pence, both of Norman.
Arrangements are by Rollins Funeral Home, www.rollinsfuneral.com.
A memorial service will be held at a later time.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Heifer International, www.heifer.org.
