Final Salute

Rev. Thomas Gary Hawkins, Sr., was born on June 27, 1924, to John Thomas Hawkins, Jr., and Thelma Livonia Cain Hawkins in Pitkin, LA. He passed into Heaven on May 7, 2023, in Oklahoma City.
The oldest of 6 children, Gary made a profession of faith at age 10 and, at 15, followed a call to preach.
With the outbreak of World War II, he worked in a shipyard and learned to build P-51 fighter jets. That experience led to his acceptance in the Seabees, the U.S. Naval Construction Battalion, in 1943 and service in the South Pacific. He was awarded the Asiatic-Pacific (1 Battle Star), WWII Victory Medal, China Service Medal (Extended) and the National Defense Medal.
When the war was over, he returned home and married Elouise Goodman on October 31, 1945.
He and Elouise both attended Oklahoma Baptist University and graduated in 1949 and 1950, respectively. He later received his B.Div. degree from the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in 1953 and a master’s in American studies from Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, AR. Soon, he was accepted as a Navy chaplain and served in numerous positions from California to Midway Island to the Great Lakes Region. He retired in 1970.
Gary and Elouise were blessed with four children. Together, they served in churches in Arkansas, Louisiana, Indiana, Missouri, Oklahoma and the United Kingdom.
The couple bought a home in Moore, OK, in July, 1985. In retirement, they took short-term foreign missions assignments to Australia, Argentina, England, India, Madagascar and the United Arab Emirates, as well as home-missions positions in New Mexico and Arkansas. He published one book, Expository Sermons on Short Books.
Gary served as interim pastor for many small churches around the Oklahoma-Arkansas area until Elouise’s health began to fail. Elouise died Sept. 21, 2005.
Gary married Billie Marie Leemaster on June 28, 2014, one day after his 90th birthday.
He started each day, he said, by “plugging in” to Galatians 2:20: “For I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Gary was preceded in death by his parents, his five siblings and his son David Bruce Hawkins.
He is survived by his wife Billie of the home, two sons, Thomas Gary Hawkins, Jr., and wife Sandy of Blue Springs, MO, Lawrence Joseph Hawkins and wife Shari of Oklahoma City, one daughter, Rebecca Elouise Edwards and husband Anthony of Las Vegas, NV, and two stepsons, Jay Leemaster and wife Linda and Larry Leemaster and wife Glenda, of Norman, and sisters-in-law Kathryn Hawkins of Cypress, TX and Sue Hawkins of Gentry, AR.
He also leaves five grandchildren, Thomas Gary Hawkins, III, and wife Jeannie of Moore, OK, Debbie Hawkins Stickney and husband Gary of Blue Springs, MO, Amber Hawkins of Ft. Worth, TX, Ariel Koerner and husband David of Midwest City, OK, and Grace Hawkins of Oklahoma City; five great grandchildren, Cody Sprinkle and wife Ariel, Taylor Hawkins and wife Mersadies and Emma Hawkins of Moore, Daniel, Samuel, Malachai, Rachel and Joshua Stickney of Blue Springs, MO, and three great-great grandchildren, Dixie and Eleanor Sprinkle and Avaleigh Hawkins of Moore, OK, as well as a host of relatives in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas and Louisiana.
Visitation will be held from 4:00 pm – 8:00 pm, Thursday, May 11, and 10:00am – 8:00 pm, Friday, May 12, at the John M. Ireland Funeral Home & Chapel, located at 120 S. Broadway, in Moore, Oklahoma.
A funeral service and celebration of Gary’s life will be held on Saturday, May 13, at 1:00 p.m. in the Louise Prichard Chapel at the First Baptist Church of Oklahoma City, 1201 North Robinson, Oklahoma City, OK 73103. Burial to follow at Arlington Memory Gardens, 3400 N Midwest Blvd., Midwest City, OK 73141.
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