In Memory . . . Kenneth C. Hawkes (1913-2009)
The Reverend Kenneth C. Hawkes died on July 26, 2009, while in the loving and gentle care of staff from Allegiance Hospice. He was 96. Rev. Hawkes was born to Maurice W. and Inez Clark Hawkes on June 3, 1913 in Portland, ME. He attended Gorham Teachers College and graduated from Colby College in 1942. While serving as acting pastor of the Pride’s Corner Union Church of Westbrook, ME, and the Universalist Church of Scarborough and South Buxton, ME, he trained for the Universalist ministry under the Rev. Dr. Harry E. Townsend using a program of studies outlined for him by John Murray Atwood, Dean of the Canton Theological School of St. Lawrence University. Rev. Hawkes was ordained by the Universalist Convention in Livermore, ME, in 1938 and served the First Universalist Larger Parish of Canton and Livermore and the First Universalist Church in Waterville, both in Maine.
In 1942, Rev. Hawkes was elected Superintendent of the Universalist Churches in Maine and served in that capacity for 8 years in the 1940’s and for two additional years in the 1960’s. His parish ministry took him to Massachusetts where he served at the First Universalist Church in North Attleboro, the Unitarian Universalist Church in Lawrence, and the First Church in Leominster, Unitarian Universalist. Rev. Hawkes also served as a District Executive in the Northeast District of the UUA from 1962 until 1967.
Rev. Hawkes participated in many denominational activities, serving as vice president of the Maine Young Peoples Christian Union, trustee of the Universalist Publishing House, executive board member of Ferry Beach Park Association, and vice president of the Massachusetts Universalist Convention, among other roles.
Rev. Hawkes took satisfaction in recalling that in 1965, he was one of a few persons from Maine who supported the civil rights movement of the late Rev. Martin Luther King by marching with him in Selma, Alabama.
After retirement from the Leominster church, Rev. Hawkes served as treasurer and trustee of the endowment funds of the Northeast District and as Elder of the Maine Society of Mayflower descendants. He was also honorary director of the Adam Hawkes family association in Saugus, MA.
June A. Wheeler, Rev. Hawkes first wife, died in 1987 after 53 years of marriage. In 1989, he married Janet Hall Beiling Hawkes, who survives him. He is also survived by his son, Dr. Roland K. Hawkes of Gorham, ME; his daughters, Carolyn Gaines of Tucson, AZ, and Margaret St. Pierre of Falmouth, ME; a sister, Claris J. Russell of Portland, ME; two step-daughters, Leslie Erikson of Leominster, MA, and Audry Shea of Ware, MA; and 33 grandchildren, step-grandchildren, and great grandchildren.
Please send messages of condolence to Janet Hawkes, 229 Flaggy Meadow Rd Apt 3, Gorham, ME 04038.