Lon Hawkins

Lon “Hawk” Hawkins passed away on Friday, September 9, 2016 with his family and friends by his side. Hawk was born February 4, 1950 in Pampa, Texas to Homer and Lucille Hawkins.   When Hawk was 3-years-old his family moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico because of his father’s asthma. After four years in Albuquerque the family moved to Riverside, California.  In his junior year of high school his family moved to Henrietta, Texas where Hawk attended Henrietta High School.  At 17-years-old, with the permission of his parents, he joined the Marines Corps.  On his eighteenth birthday Hawk was onboard a military plane to South Vietnam as part of the 3rd Battalion, 21st Marines.   He was in Vietnam for six months when he contracted malaria and was sent to Da Nang, Vietnam to recover.  After a short recovery he was sent back to his Battalion where he spent seven months and contracted malaria a second time.  He was then sent to Camp Pendleton near San Diego to recover and was assigned as a Primary Marksmanship Instructor at the Marine Training Facility at Camp Pendleton.  After two years in the Marines Hawk moved to Riverside, California where he met Carolee Winn.  Hawk was smitten by the young, pretty blond California girl and they were married 15 months later and were married for 46 years.  The young couple lived and worked in the Riverside area for three years and eventually moved to Pinetop in 1975 to be near Carolee’s mother and father who had moved to Pinetop from Riverside two years earlier.  Hawk got a job as a carpenter and worked as a construction foreman in the White Mountains for 35 years until he retired in 2009.  Hawk estimated he helped build over 400 homes in the White Mountains and took tremendous pride in his workmanship.  Hawk enjoyed camping, hunting, fishing and spending time with his family and friends.  And he especially liked the beaches of Mexico on the Gulf of California (aka Sea of Cortez) where he and Carolee spent their winters after Hawk retired.  Hawk was a soft-spoken man and had a knack for teaching young carpenters his trade; a trait probably learned from his days teaching young Marines how to use their weapons but in a less antagonistic style than his Marine days.     He is predeceased by his mother and father; brother Joe Hawkins; and father-in-law George Winn.   He is survived by his wife Carolee; brother Bradley Hawkins (Marcia) of Ontario, California; sister Lola Laury (Jim) of Henrietta, Texas; mother-in-law Carol Winn of Pinetop, Arizona; daughter Andrea Hawkins Long (Kevin) of Globe, Arizona; son Aaron Hawkins (Eva) of Cedar City, Utah; grandson Tyler Burney; granddaughters Kallie Smith, Hallie Hawkins, Katelyn Long, Rylee Long; great granddaughter Anissa Lovin Burney, and great grandson Wyatt Burney.    A celebration of Hawk’s life will take place Saturday, September 17, 2016 at The Orchard at Charlie Clarks from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.