Notes |
- Arlene Avis Hawkins
Lewiston Sun-Journal
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
LEWISTON — Arlene Avis Wallingford Hawkins died in Lewiston, on July 11.
She was born in Auburn, July 30, 1923, the daughter of John G. and Bessie (Fowler) Wallingford. She grew up on Perkins Ridge, where her family owned Wallingford Orchards. She attended the one-room schoolhouse on Perkins Ridge Road and delighted in beating the boys skiing on local hills.
She graduated from Edward Little High School, Class of 1940. She also attended the Auburn School of Commerce.
She fell in love with Raymond A. Hawkins, ‘the cute farm hand’ who her father had hired, and they married on Feb. 19, 1944, just before he sailed off with the Navy. She always referred to him as ‘the handsome sailor.’
She worked a variety of jobs from bookkeeper to seamstress while traveling with her husband in the Navy. When they returned to Auburn, she worked at a local shoe factory, and also was a hairdresser and bookkeeper.
She joined her husband’s accounting business and together they did accounting and bookkeeping services for countless businesses and individuals, many of whom became good friends. He retired in 1998, but she never really retired, always doing books for friends and relatives.
Her local activities included serving on the board of the Sarah Frye Home for 39 years, a member of Eastern Star and president and treasurer of the Hummel Club. She was an active member of Calvary United Methodist Church, serving on many committees and made the meanest orange pineapple jellied salad of the century for countless church suppers.
She was often seen around town as a ‘blur’ in her various sporty cars and loved to drive, especially fast. When she finally had to give up driving a month before her passing, it was the beginning of the end for her.
Arlene loved getting together with her EL classmates, going on cruises and traveling. She took many memorable trips to Jackson Hole, Wyo., to visit her daughter and made many friends there. She loved rafting on the Snake River, boating on Jackson Lake and looking for bears in the national parks.
She had a wonderful sense of adventure and liked to ‘try anything’ especially if it had to do with ‘flying.’ She went paragliding at the age of 80, took a glider ride soaring at 12,000 feet around the Tetons at 87, and went zip-lining at the age of 88.
For such a tiny lady, she lived life big, helped many and touched the lives of anyone she met.
She will be greatly missed by many, including her daughter, Becky and partner, Jayne Ottman, of Jackson, Wyo.; ‘adopted’ daughter, Gayle Johnson of Auburn; grandsons, Christopher of Portland and Mathew Scott of Texas; sister, Jane Michaud; and many nieces and nephews.
She was predeceased by her parents; husband, Raymond; daughter, Raylene; and brothers, Eugene, Ivan and Richard.
|