Frances Marie Hawkins

Frances Marie Hawkins passed away peacefully and gently on April 4, 2014, at the age of 99, with family and loved ones by her side. Frances was a remarkable human being with a gift for charm, wit, kindness, honesty, humor and strength. Her first memory was entertaining the people on the train which carried her as a 4 year old with her family and all their possessions from Michigan to California. She will be remembered by large numbers of friends as the life of the party whether they were with her at age 4 or 99 or at any age in between. She demonstrated her strength when her father deserted the family during the Depression and she went to work to support her mother and three siblings. She worked as the executive secretary to a bank president in Los Angeles until she met Kenneth Hawkins, who, in 1938, became her husband of 65 years. They moved to Northern California, where she loved being a mother and then worked as a dental assistant for a periodontist in San Francisco. Moving to Ventura in 1970, she became executive secretary to the Santa Barbara Ventura County Dental Society and was a volunteer for the Food Share Program in Oxnard. She and Kenneth worked hard all their lives, attended bible study meetings, took care of the people around them, and never knew a stranger. They eventually saved enough to retire and travel the world together, taking about 20 cruises and visiting many countries. Kenneth predeceased Frances in 2003. She supported him in his last years when his memory was declining. Near the end of his life she asked him if he knew who she was. Kenneth replied, “I don’t remember your name but I know that you are the one I love.” Frances leaves her beloved daughter and son in law, Karen and Bill Harvey. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, April 12, 2014, 3:15PM at Charles Carroll Funeral Home, 15 Teloma Drive, in Ventura, California. In lieu of flowers, the family invites donations to SYDA Foundation, a 501 (c)3 not-for-profit charitable organization, 371 Brickman Rd. So. Fallsburg, NY 12779.

Arrangements under the direction of Charles Carroll Funeral Home, Ventura, CA.