Joseph D. Hawes

Our condolences to your family from our family. Being in the ICU hearing you talk about him, we knew he was a great person. We too, lost our brother, Adam Corpus. They will now both be free of pain and will rejoice with our Lord.

I'm glad to be able to call you my friend, you were a good man.

May God bless you and your family in this time of sorrow.

Hawes Family:

I would like to offer you my deepest sympathies. I knew Joe from about 1977 on. I worked for Ford Engineering from 1977-1986 and we would stop at the Hawes house any time we were in Pt. O'connor where we were certaily going to be offered a cup of coffee, some of the strongest I have ever had, but the company made it all worth it.

Joe took us out to the Island whennever we were doing rig moves in the Gulf Of Mexico. I have some of the best and most memorable memories of my life from being on the island with Joe as I bet you do to.

From staying at the bunkhouse to sleeping under the stars while on the island it was made better because Joe was there.

I loved the stories he had about shrimping, scuba diving, hurricanes, the civil war and the lighthouse, relatives burried on the island and stories he had about growing up and being on the island and many many more stories too numerous to mention.

He loved that island and one thing I wish is that he would have gotten it back from the government before he died.

A couple of things that I learned from being on the island was that you can put water in the brake resovoir instead of oil and your brakes will work pretty good and that a 50 caliber bullet will work as a freeze plug on an older model Ford pick-up.

I also learned that he loved his wife dearly and his nickname for her was Honeyo and that the acronym HILY stood for Honeyo I Love You.

I stopped by the house in Tivoli a couple of time and visited with Joe and Mrs. Hawes. I regret not stopping more. I was passing by a few weeks ago and thought about it but was too busy, my loss.

I think what i will remember the most is that old shrimp boat with its old compass and his sweat stained hat, oh yes and i will never forget the coffee.

I regret that I will not be able to attend the service but my thoughts and prayers are with all of you.

What a wonderful experience it must have been being the wife, child, grandchild, brother, sister, nephew of neice of Joe and to have known him all those years.

Deepest Sympathies;

Gary J. Kelly
Ganem & Kelly Surveying

Becky,
You and your entire family are in our prayers at this time of loss. Camille and I extend our most sincere hopes for an easy passage through these troubling times.

My thoughts and prayers are with you.

He was as big in heart as he was in stature. I think we always took it for granted that he would be around forever, fighting the Matagorda fight on behalf of the family. As the story was captured just a few years back, the title of the story captures the sentiment now, "Gone but not Forgotten". My memories of Uncle Joe will always be cherished ones.

I met Mr. Hawes at the blood bank where I used to work and I have never met a nicer and more genuine person. It was an honor to know him.