Alma L. Hankins

Alma Hankins, age 89, of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, passed away in her sleep, on July 20, 2020, at Morning Pointe of Tuscaloosa. Services will be 1:00 pm Friday, July 24, 2020, with visitation 30 minutes prior, at Memory Chapel with brother, Justus Cole officiating and sister, Debra Quarles providing music. Burial will follow in Memory Hill Gardens Cemetery. Arrangements made by Memory Chapel Funeral Home.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Bruce Hankins; father Oscar B. Cole and mother Oma Hamric Cole; sisters Ethel Cochran Isbell and Mary Sue Cole Melville; brothers L.G. Cochran, Tom Cole and James Cole.

Survivors include sons Gary Hankins (Mary Ann) of Tuscaloosa and Jerry Hankins of Birmingham; grandchildren Matthew Hankins, Andrew Hankins and John Hankins of Tuscaloosa, Emeline Hankins and Dayton Hankins of Birmingham. Sisters Audrey Babcock of Columbia, TN, Jennie Dannels of Titusville, FL, Marga Paris (Clark) of Orange Park, FL and Debra Quarles (Rodney) of Fayetteville, TN and sister in laws Catherine Cole of Taft, TN and Lula Cole of Hazel Green, AL; brother Justus Cole (Gayle) of Killen, AL and brother in law Andy Melville of Utah. And many nieces and nephews.

Alma Lou Cole Hankins was born on February 13, 1931 in Hackleburg, Alabama. Following graduation from Hackleburg High School, in 1949, she attended Nursing School at Carraway Methodist Hospital in Birmingham. Upon graduating, she moved to Muscle Shoals, AL for work where she also met and married her husband, Bruce Hankins. They then moved to Wichita, KS, where she worked at the VA Hospital. In June, 1959, she gave birth to their first son, Gary. August 1963 took them to Oklahoma City. After that, the family moved to Hamilton, AL in 1965, where she was Operating Room Supervisor at the local hospital and where son Jerry was born, in 1966. They moved to Grenada, MS from 1967 to retirement, where Alma worked many long hours as an OR Nurse at Grenada Lake Hospital. Upon retiring in 1992, she moved to Tuscaloosa to be near children. She became a volunteer at Northport DCH Hospital gift shop, making hundreds of wreaths and bows over the years and beautiful flower arrangements. Alma enjoyed yard work...where she was immaculate at keeping leaves and sticks out of the yard and would fuss at her children for not doing the same! :) She attended many bible study classes and enjoyed going to church with friends. Family was extremely important to Alma, from her sons that she loved dearly to her grandchildren that she adored. She treasured the time she got to spend with them...from reading, crafting and playing games to mentoring them to make the right decisions in their life. She thought the world of them. Her brothers and sisters held a very special place in Alma's heart. She could spend hours on the phone with them or talk into the night when they visited each other! Her nieces and nephews also had a special place in her heart and she loved visiting with them and delighted in taking them small gifts when she saw them. To all the family, she loved you dearly and took great pride in sharing your accomplishments.

Pallbearers will be sons, Gary and Jerry, and grandsons Matthew, Andrew, John and Dayton.

Honorary pallbearers are Sandra Hanson, Linda Patterson, Marc and Lorie DuBose and all her nieces and nephews.

Special thanks to all the nurses and staff at Morning Pointe of Tuscaloosa

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to The Alzheimer's Association or Alzheimer's of Central Alabama