John Wilburn Hawkins Jr.
Burial Details
Obituaries
Grand Junction Daily Sentinel page 3 D Death Notice - January 1, 2017
John Wilburn Hawkins Jr., 98, Delta County, died Dec. 28,
2016, at Horizon Care Center in Eckert.
Services will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at Eckert Presbyterian
Church, with interment to follow at Cedaredge Cemetery.
He is survived by a son, Dan of Redlands Mesa; two daughters,
Sharon MacKendrick of Milan, New Mexico, and Laura Donovan
of Delta; one sister, Esther Barrett of Cedaredge; six grandchildren; two adopted grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren; and one great-great-grandchild.
Grand Junction Daily Sentinel page 7 B Obituary - January 4, 2017
John Wilburn Hawkins, Jr.
August 17, 1918 - December 28, 2016
Longtime Delta County resident John Wilburn Hawkins, Jr. passed away Wednesday, December 28, 2016, at Horizon Care Center in Eckert, CO. He was 98 years of age.
A funeral service will be
held Saturday, January 7, 2016, 10:00 a.m. at the Eckert Presbyterian Church in Eckert,
CO, with interment to follow at the Cedaredge Cemetery. There
will be a lunch served after interment.
John was born August 17, 1918, to John Wilburn Hawkins, Sr.,
and Cora Etta (Adams) Hawkins, in Eckert Colorado.
On November 4, 1942, John married Kathleen Belle Rowell in
Berkley, California. They were blessed with three children.
John served the United States as a seaman in the U.S. Navy
during World War II, from 1942-1945. He was part of the
gunnery crew in the Battle of Guadalcanal, later a sonar
operator, and completed his service as a cook in Miami, Florida,
where he prevented food poisoning for hundreds of sailors. He
was a member of the VFW.
John was always interested in making the community a better
place to live, particularly with regard to providing adequate
irrigation water and safe drinking water. He was an active
member of the Overland Ditch and Reservoir Company,
Redland Mesa Water User Association, North Fork Water
Conservancy District, and the Upper Surface Creek Domestic
Water Users Association, having been a founding member of
both the Redlands Mesa WUA and the USCDWUA. He was
elected as a Delta County Commissioner in 1972, and served
through 1984.
John was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Kathleen;
sisters, Dora Ashurst, Helen Buff, Lily May Cotten, Hazel Frey,
Margaret McNutt, and Ruth Rowell; brothers, Bruce Hawkins,
Floyd Hawkins, Charles Hawkins, Roy Hawkins, and Kenneth
Hawkins, and by his great-granddaughter, Danielle Ziegler. He
is survived by his son, Dan (Helen) Hawkins of Redlands Mesa;
daughters, Sharon MacKendrick of Milan, New Mexico, and
Laura Donovan of Delta; sister, Esther Barrett of Cedaredge;
six grandchildren, two adopted grandchildren, eight greatgrandchildren, and one great-great-granddaughter.
Arrangements are under the care and direction of Taylor
Funeral Service and Crematory.
View the internet obituary and sign the online guestbook.