Carol Louise Hawkes, formerly of Exton

Carol Louise Hawkes, formerly of Exton, passed away the afternoon of September 9th, 2017, at a hospice facility in Tavares, Florida. She was 83 years old and was in the company of her loving daughter and son.

She was born in Buffalo, NY, on January 26th, 1934 to William and Virginia Carver. She was never a big fan of schoolwork and after escaping high school, found work at a local hot dog stand. There, she caught the interest of an out-of-town fellow named Jim who impressed her by pulling up in a Cadillac, wearing his U.S. Air Force uniform. She dumped her bicycle-riding, bespeckled boyfriend, to marry Jim in 1953. She remembered her wedding day as one of the most stressful in her life, and her brothers and uncles did not help the situation by painting the newlyweds’ car like a prison cell. It is also rumored the car was tied to a tree stump making leaving the reception for the honeymoon a real challenge.

Carol and Jim spent the first few years of their marriage in Buffalo, where she gave birth to three children, Holly (now) Hartshorne, James W. Hawkes III, and Julie Hawkes. In addition to her children, she is survived by two sons-in-law, Steve Hartshorne and Calixto Mancuello; five grandchildren, Kristen, Nikki, Jennifer, Casey, and Domingo; two great-grandchildren, Taylor and Michael. She was preceded in death by her sister, Myra, husband, Jim, and grandson, Jamie.

In 1965, Carol moved with her family to Exton, PA, where she and Jim built one of the first houses in the now sprawling Marchwood development. Her children were still in grade school and all fondly remember their first Pennsylvania winter and her disbelief when she drove them to school on a snow-day after she thought they missed the bus.

Carol enjoyed spending time with her husband, and the two were practically inseparable whether it be fishing (read: drinking) in Cape May or traveling (read: drinking) across the country with his barbershop quartet. When she wasn’t with Jim, Carol was with her girlfriends for Card Club, which didn’t involve cards at all but did involve cocktails.

Though she and Jim moved to Grand Island, FL, in 2006 for a more comfortable lifestyle (Carol had had it with winter), she never lost her sense of fun and was a respected regular at her son’s bar in Hollywood, FL, where, in her late 70s, she climbed up on the bar to dance and do Jäger shots on a dare. In lieu of flowers, please put a bottle of Jäger in your freezer and enjoy a toast to Carol. If you would like to be a part of the celebration of Carol’s life, donations can be made payable to Helping Hands (c/o Julie Hawkes, 626 Harvey’s Bridge Road, Coatesville, PA 19320) in support of Carol’s great grandson, Michael Hawkes.