Obituary of Norris Hawkins

Norris Roosevelt Hawkins age 79 of Lake City,TN passed away Tuesday, June 26, 2012 at the Tennova Inpatient Hospice after battling with Alzheimer's for the past several years. Norris was born on May 18, 1933 where Norris Dam currently sits. His parents were David Hawkins and Nancy Ann Heatherly. He was the oldest of 12 children. Norris joined the Army in 1953 and served both in the Korean and Vietnam wars. He reached the rank of Master Sergeant as a calibration mechanic. He received the National Defense Service Medal, 7 Good Conduct Medals, Several Army Commendation Medals, Vietnam Services Medal, and Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal. After his service of 21 years he retired, and then he went on to teaching his knowledge at Bylington Solway Vocational School in Karns, TN. He received several awards for Teacher of the Year during his service with Knox County. After retiring from teaching, Norris enjoyed traveling with his companion Charlotte Butler, playing golf, and working outdoors. Along with his parents he was preceded in death by his siblings, Lloyd, Jerry, Ronnie & Donnie Hawkins, and Lilly Mac Hawkins; and step son, Christopher. Survivors; 2 Sons & daughters-in-law, Ronnie & Sheilah Hawkins of Columbia, SC, Rex & Donna Hawkins of Lake City, TN. Norris also leaves behind siblings, Faye & Curtis Cooper, Claudine Manning, Mary Sue Grant, Kathern Androick, Geneva & Ronnie Norton, Cherry Ann & Pat Lane; 2 grandchildren, Megan & Lindsey; 1 great grandchild, Ethan; 2 step grandchildren, Kristy & Don. Norris's family will receive his friends on Friday, June 29th from 6 - 8 pm at Jones Mortuary. His interment will be Monday, July 2nd at 9:30 am at the East Tennessee Veterans cemetery in Knoxville, TN with full military honors. Jones Mortuary in Clinton, TN is in charge of all arrangements. Norris's family would like to give special thanks to all the employees at Atria Assisted Living (Knoxville, TN) for making the last few years of his life peaceful and comfortable, there comment to serving the elderly is above and beyond. In lieu of flowers please donate to the Wounded Warrior Project, P.O. Box 758517, Topeka, Kansas 66675 (woundedwarriorproject.org) or the Alzheimer's Association 1-800-272-3900 (alz.org). This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 27th, 2012 at 8:09 pm and is filed under Obituaries. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.