Donald Lawrence Hawkins

Saxophonist Don Hawkins of Huntington Beach, whose career spanned nearly seven decades and encompassed both playing with well-known bands and teaching generations of young Orange County musicians, has died.

He passed away at the home of his daughter Yvonne Hawkins in Bermuda Dunes. According to Ms. Hawkins the death on February 6 was owing to cardiac/pulmonary disease.

Born in Waco, Texas on February 1, 1937, young Don moved with his family to Laguna Beach in time to start kindergarten, going on to graduate from Laguna Beach High School in 1955. By the time he finished school, he had found his lifelong vocation as a horn player. Not only did he organize a band that played for school dances, but he traveled regularly to the San Fernando Valley to study with a renowned saxophonist, Russ Cheever, while still a teenager.

Having furthered his musical education at LA City College and then Cal State, LA, Mr. Hawkins launched his professional career in the early 1960s by touring with the band of the highly-regarded trombone player Si Zentner. Zentner had performed with many of the best-known bands of the day such as those of Les Brown, Jimmy Dorsey, and Harry James, so the experience of playing with such a seasoned veteran provided a golden opportunity for a young musician. Moreover, the travels into the Deep South just as the civil rights movement was heating up were revelatory for a young Californian like Mr. Hawkins and shaped his political commitments for the rest of his life.

Settling down in Huntington Beach with his former wife Linda (now deceased) after the period of being on the road, Mr. Hawkins began a career lasting many decades in which he focused on Orange County. Frequently backing up the Righteous Brothers, playing in local clubs, performing with several bands at Disneyland, he established himself as an invaluable member of the OC music community. He also began to teach, both at local high schools and privately.

The Grammy-nominated saxophonist Eric Marienthal has spoken of his good fortune in beginning his studies with Hawk, as he was known to his fellow musicians: "Don Hawkins was an inspiration and a mentor at a very young age.... The combination of his great musicianship, his vast professional experience, and his naturally motivating personality made him the inspirational teacher that he was." Mr. Marienthal also praised his teacher's practice ethic. Another well-known student, Doug Webb, said simply "He is the reason I play saxophone."

The pandemic convinced Mr. Hawkins to give up teaching at high schools, though he continued to see his private students till a few months before his death. One of those private students, Rob Cooper, recalls that students called their mentor "the Lord of the Long Notes" owing to his capacity to sustain the notes he was playing.

Mr. Hawkins was pre-deceased by two of his sons, Chris and Don Jr. Survivors include, in addition to his daughter Yvonne, his son Matt of Summerville, South Carolina and Matt's three children, Matthew Jr, Peyton, and Alex. A younger sister, Carol Hawkins Maroni, of Fletcher, North Carolina also survives.

On April 1 at 12:30 there will be a memorial at the hall of the Orange County Musicians Union, Local 7 in Santa Ana. The family has asked that in lieu of flowers donations might be sent to the Musicians Club of Local 7.

Glenna Matthews

I'm a professional historian living in Laguna Beach. I'd known Don since 3rd grade and for this obit I interviewed several of his friends, as well as drawing on my own knowledge.