Mildred Hawkins

Mildred Hawkins, 100, longtime Melbourne resident, passed away early Thursday morning, September 12, at the Villa del Sol where she has resided since August of 2012. Funeral services will be held at 2:00 p.m. Monday, September 16, at the Mitchell Family Funeral Home. Visitation will be held one-hour prior to the services. For condolences, please visit www.mitchellfh.com. Ph. 641-844-1234. Born on February 12, 1913, in Warren County west of Indianola, Iowa, she was the daughter of Fred and Bertha Jane (Blackford) Clark. She received her education in the area of her birth. On October 30, 1934, she was united in marriage to Lee L. Hawkins in Newton by at the parsonage of the Methodist Church by the minister of the Sandyville Methodist Church. In December of 1936, the young couple moved to Marshall County near Van Cleve where he was a farm hand working for $25 a month. They later moved to State Center and then Melbourne right after WWII. Soon after moving there, Lee began working for the CNW Railroad. Mrs. Hawkins worked in the hot lunch program for the Melbourne Schools and later the Marshall County Care Facility in dietary until retiring in 1985. Mrs. Hawkins was a member of the Melbourne United Methodist Church, former 4-H member, the quilting group of St. John UCC and enjoyed quilting, sewing, cooking and baking, flowers and gardening and time with her family. She will also be remembered for generosity, caring and willingness to help others. Left to cherish her memory are her children: Donald Hawkins of Asheville, North Carolina and Marvin (Barb) Hawkins of Marshalltown, six grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren, and two step-great grandchildren. In death, Mildred rejoined her beloved husband, her daughter Patricia Howard and son-in-law Donald Howard, granddaughter Lori Ann Howard, daughter-in-law Martha Jean Goodman, her parents, a great-granddaughter, brother George Edward Clark and grandson, Scott Howard.