Dr. Robert Thomas Hawkes, Jr.

Dr. Robert T. Hawkes, Jr., of Blackstone, VA, formerly of Fairfax, VA and retired history professor and dean of George Mason University, departed this life, Tuesday, March 4, 2008, where he was born. He was born on January 27, 1942, at the ancestral home Boxwood to the late Robert Thomas Hawkes and Mary Frances White Hawkes.

Robbie, as affectionately called, was a 1960 graduate of Blackstone High School; received his BA in 1964 in history from Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, VA; his MA in 1967 and his PhD in 1975 in history from the University of Virginia. He also completed post doctorate work from Harvard University.

Dr. Hawkes began his 37 years of teaching American Southern History at George Mason College of the University of Virginia in 1969. In 1973, one year after George Mason became its own entity, he founded its continuing education department and as its dean, developed its programs into becoming the School of Continuing and Alternative Learning of George Mason University. He also served as Scholar-in-Residence at Gunston Hall, George Masons homeplace.

With his great love for teaching, he later resigned as dean in 1991, to return to fulltime teaching for the History Department at George Mason University. He was awarded Faculty Member of the Year in 1996, by the Alumni Association. In 2006, upon Dr. Hawkes' retirement, the History & Art History Department initiated the Robert T. Hawkes Endowed Professorship Fund. This fund is to emphasize excellence in teaching and in fostering caring relationships with students. This year, Dr. Hawkes was awarded the Distinguished Alumnus Award by Randolph-Macon College.

Robbie is survived by his brother, Benjamin White Hawkes and his wife, Betty of Kernersville, N.C.; his sister, Mary Sue Wilson and her husband, Whip of Crewe, VA; his special friend, Alexis Montero of Fairfax, VA; his nieces, Pamela Hawkes James of Mooresville, N.C. and Glenda Hawkes Leinbach of Jamestown, N.C.; and his two nephews, Thomas Allen Davis and Robert Heyward Davis III, both of Blackstone, VA.

Services will be held at 2:30 P.M., Saturday, March 8, 2008 at Crenshaw United Methodist Church, 200 Church Street, Blackstone, with committal to follow in Grace United Methodist Church Cemetery in Wilsons, VA. The family will receive friends at Boxwood, 799 Woodland Lane in Blackstone, from noon til 1:30 P.M. prior to the time of the services. In lieu of flowers, he has requested donations to Grace United Methodist Church, Building Fund, c/o Gweneth Procise, 1397 Wilson Road, Wilsons, VA 23894.

Joseph McMillian Funeral Home, 1826 Cox Rd., Blackstone, VA 23824, is serving the family and condolences may be sent, www.mcmillianfuneralhome.com.

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