Helen Hawkins

Helen Louise Hawkins, 100 years old, passed away June 3, 2022, surrounded by her loving family.

On September 9, 1921, Helen Louise Mitchell was born in Concordia, Missouri to Walter Ellsworth Mitchell and Freda Frances Clara (Arndt) Mitchell. She grew up in Kansas City, Kansas and graduated from Wyandotte High School.

Helen had two beloved daughters, Lee Ann Stribling and Kay Ellen Miller with her first husband, Earl Reynolds Brown.

She started her working career with Mr. and Mrs. David Rich at the PettyGem shop in downtown Kansas City, MO. She went on to become a very successful buyer with the Katz Drug Co; and later with Adlers and Parkview Gem.

In 1974, Helen married the love of her life, James M. Hawkins, who owned Feld Chevrolet and co-owned Hawkins Chrysler Plymouth dealerships for many years.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her sisters, Florence Ann Pierce and Margaret Pearl Henrion, son-in-law David Stribling and her beloved husband James M Hawkins.

She is survived by two daughters, Lee Ann Stribling (David, deceased), and Kay Ellen Miller (Rick), five grandchildren, Michelle Kay Lupardus (Doug), David Leon Stribling II, Shana Helen Marie Marchio (Sam), Natalie Freda Michelle Haber (Bruce), and Richard Nathaniel Miller (Kristin).

She is also survived by ten great-grandchildren: Jackson Lupardus, Sammy Marchio, Harrison Blake, Reghan, Kennedy, Will, and Caleb Haber, Bailey Spencer, Lily and Daxton Miller.

Helen was a beautiful Christian woman who cared deeply about the spiritual life of her family. She was an active member of Chapparelle Christian Church in Phoenix, Arizona where she wintered for many years (until she turned 91!).

Helen was known by all for her delicious chocolate chip cookies, which she baked by the pan-full, her uncanny ability to win every hand of cards, and her total lack of discomfiture, regardless of the situation.

Helen was the life the party, the consummate host and the first to bring a meal or visit a friend at the hospital during difficult times. She was an artist in the garden, had a weakness for shopping, and was never afraid to speak her mind.

Helen was a woman determined to succeed at whatever she put her mind to and worked to instill in her family the importance of hard work; even the littlest were taught that, “if you were sitting down, you had time to sweep the driveway or snap beans.”

The true matriarch of her family, Helen is deeply loved and will be missed by all whose lives she touched.

Visitation will be Friday, June 10, 11:00 AM at Johnson County Funeral Chapel and Memorial Gardens, 11200 Metcalf Ave Overland Park, KS 66210. Services will be at 12:00 noon with burial to follow in the Memorial Gardens.