Gerald Doyle Hawkins

Gerald Doyle Hawkins passed away on August 10, 2025, at the age of 94. He was the son of Doyle Hawkins and Grace Gregg Hawkins of Vardaman, Mississippi. The many Hawkins families of Calhoun County are descendants of the Henry James (Hal) Hawkins' family that came to this area from Alabama in 1850.

Gerald was born and raised in Vardaman, MS. He graduated from Vardaman High School in 1949. After High School, he attended Holmes Community College in Goodman, MS, and from there went on to Mississippi College in Clinton, MS, where he graduated.

Early in his college days, he joined the Naval Reserve unit in Jackson, MS. Later, he had the opportunity to attend officer candidate school and completed this work in California. Upon graduation from college, he was commissioned an officer in the Navy and was assigned to the USS Massey (DD 778) in Norfolk, VA. In 1956, Gerald married Carolyn Mays of Water Valley, MS. Shortly after that, he accepted work with Allied Chemical Corporation, and he and Carolyn moved to Charlotte, NC.

During the next several years, they had three children: Jerry Hawkins, of Pensacola, FL, Cheryl Hawkins of Baton Rouge, LA, and Scott Hawkins of Baton Rouge, LA. Gerald had one sister, Elizabeth Hawkins Sansing of Oxford, MS.

Gerald retired in 1996 after 40 years with Allied Chemical. Carolyn passed away in 2012 at the age of 75. They had been married 56 years. Gerald will be buried alongside his wife and parents in Vardaman, MS.

Gerald would like to leave you with this prayer:

Lord who art over us, give me a pure heart that I may see Thee.

Give me a humble heart, that I may hear Thee.

Give me a heart of faith that I may abide in Thee.

Give me a heart of love that I may serve Thee,

and when I leave this earth,

give me a place in your presence.

Amen.

Parker Memorial Funeral Home is honored to serve the Hawkins family during this difficult season of life.