Obituaries

Elizabeth Belle Hunter Hawkins

Photo of Elizabeth Belle Hunter Hawkins
Elizabeth Belle Hunter Hawkins, age 96, died Tuesday, February 12, 2019 in Nashville, Tenn., in the comfort of her family. She was born May 6, 1922 in Clayton, Mo., the daughter of Clay Ewing Hunter and Elizabeth Bell Hunter. In April, 1926 she moved with her family to Jefferson City, Mo. where she attended public schools, graduating from Jefferson City High School in 1939. In 1941 she was awarded an Associate in Arts degree from Jefferson City Junior College. On May 23, 1942, she married Robert Lewis Hawkins Jr. They were married over 75 years until his death on November 26, 2017. Mrs. Hawkins became a Girl Scout at the age of 10. In 1935 she sold the first Girl Scout cookies in Jefferson City to First Lady Mrs. Guy B. Park at the Missouri Governor's Mansion. She stayed active in Girl Scouts as a troop leader in high school and later for her young daughters, also serving as counselor at Girl Scout Camp Pin Oak. She sang in the A Capella Choir at the very first Capitol Caroling in the Missouri State Capitol in 1937. She was a 66-year member and president of P.E.O., Chapter BW; and a former president of the Century Study Club. In 1973 she became a charter member of Missouri Mansion Docents and gave tours there for 30 years. She was a member of the Board, officer of the Mid-Missouri Friends and a Fellow of the Winston Churchill Memorial in Fulton, Mo. She was a member of Faith Lutheran Church and served on the church's Board of Trustees and was a member of the Board of Heisinger Lutheran Retirement Home. In 1961 she and her family hosted for a year Jefferson City's first American Field Service foreign exchange student, Irma Korte from Helsinki, Finland. Irma is still a valued member of the family. A devotee of history, genealogy and historic preservation, she was a member of the Cole County Historical Society, the Historic City of Jefferson, the Jane Randolph Jefferson Chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution, the Martha Custis Chapter of Daughters of American Colonists, Colonial Dames in the Commonwealth of Virginia and was President of the Winnie Davis Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy - a position her mother held years before her. She was given special recognition by UDC for her guiding, editing and funding of the re-publication of "Personal Reminiscences of Missouri Women During The Sixties," a long-lost work originally published in 1909. She was a genealogist, writing books for each of her children and grandchildren, tracing her and her husband's families to as early as the 12th century. She is survived by her daughter, Katherine H. Letterman, and son, Robert L. Hawkins, III (Jeanne), both of Nashville, Tenn.; granddaughters, Elizabeth C. Gerken (Gregg) and Katherine C. Haney (Michael) of Nashville; grandsons, Robert L. Hawkins IV (Lynn Fingerhut), of Peoria, Ill. and Benjamin R. Hawkins of Jefferson County, Mo.; and five great-grandchildren, Hunter and Kate Haney, William Gerken, and Henry and Clayton Hawkins. She was predeceased by her husband and her daughter, Barbara Hawkins, both in 2017, and by her siblings, Clay Ewing Hunter Jr., Robert Nelson Hunter, Frances Hunter Basinger and Jane Hunter Gentry. She treasured her nieces and nephews: Clay, Jackie, Becky, Marti, Cindy, B.J., Charles, Caroline and Rob. Services will be at St. Jude's Episcopal Church in Monroe City, Mo. at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, February 23, 2019. Visitation will precede the service at 10:30 a.m. Interment will follow at St. Jude's Cemetery. Memorial donations may be made to Friends of the Missouri Governor's Mansion, 716 East High Street, Jefferson City, MO 65101.

Published February 17, 2019