3-11-2025 11:23pm

Carol Hawks, Mother of 7, Loved to Travel and Play Games Like Scrabble

Robison Bahnmiller Funeral Home Contributor

Carol Marie Hawks passed away Wednesday evening, March 5, 2025, in Lodi Township where she lived with her daughter Barbara and son-in-law Rick.

The beloved only daughter, and oldest child of the late Howard W. and Marie B. (Winstel) Holmes, she was lovingly cared for in her last days and hours by her daughters, her son-in-law Rick, her granddaughter Laura, and the nurses and aides of Residential Hospice.

Carol was born Friday, December 23, 1927, in Buffalo, New York, and lived in Buffalo, Eggertsville, and Snyder, New York, until she married her late husband, Burdette “Bob” Hawks, after graduating from Amherst High School. Bob and Carol spent the early years of their marriage in Snyder before moving to their first new house in West Seneca. After three short years there, they were Michigan bound where they settled in Livonia in 1966. Carol remained there until moving to Independence Village in Plymouth in 2018.

Over the years, Carol sewed, knitted, and crocheted many things for her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. She loved to play games, especially Scrabble, and after moving to Independence Village, she added Bingo and Left Right Center to her repertoire. She enjoyed gardening and had many beautiful flowers around her home. She took up golf with Bob after their children were grown and took many golfing trips with him. After Bob passed away, she went on many cruises, most of them with her cousin Ginny, and in 2009, took a trip to the ancestral villages in Germany and England with her three brothers. Through the years, she also made many cross-country visits to her far-flung family in Germany, Mexico, California, Texas, Florida, Tennessee, North Carolina, Maryland, Delaware, Colorado, New York and Pennsylvania.

Carol’s favorite foods were pizza, ice cream, and especially potato chips; she could hear the crinkle of the potato chip bag from two rooms away. She loved picnics and almost every summer hosted a family picnic at her home in Livonia. Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas were other occasions that drew family together around her table.

Carol is survived by five daughters: Barbara (Rick) Giezentaner, Patricia (Scot) Matheson, Sandra (Arthur) DeLeon, Cynthia (Chuck) Nichol, and Christina (Paul) McBride; and two sons: Robert (Marta) Hawks and Steven Hawks; and son-in-law, Ted Holz. Also surviving are 22 grandchildren, 39 great grandchildren, including one who will be born later this year; three great-great grandchildren, including one who will be born later this year; and two brothers: Paul (Carol) Holmes, and Thomas (Jeannine) Holmes; and many nieces and nephews. Carol was pre-deceased by her parents, her husband Bob, her daughter Linda (Ted) Holz, her granddaughter Melissa Nichol, her brother Howard, and her favorite cousin Virginia Quigley.In lieu of flowers, donations in Carol’s memory can be made to the American Heart Association, for which Carol volunteered for many years; or to Residential Hospice, 5440 Corporate Drive, Suite 400, Troy, Michigan 48098, whose nurses Kari, Rebecca, Sandy, and Stacey, and aides Latasha and Emily, provided such good care for Carol over the last 18 months.

Friends may join the family for a time of visitation on Monday, March 17, 2025 from 9:30 A.M. to 10:30 A.M. at St. Andrew Catholic Church in Saline. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:30 A.M. with Fr. John Linden as Celebrant. A luncheon will be held at the Church following the Mass. Inurnment will take place privately at a later date and will be held in the Parkview Memorial Cemetery in Livonia, MI. To leave a memory you have of Carol, to sign her online guestbook or for directions please visit www.rbfhsaline.com