Dave
Hawkins is being remembered today for his many years of dedicated service to
the New Richmond Exempted Village School District which included 22 years as a
member of the Board of Education and nearly 30 years of volunteer work.
"His
positive impact on NREVSD as a Board of Education member will be felt for many
years," said Supt. Adam Bird. "Dave has always looked at what is best
for our students when casting a vote as a Board member."
Mr.
Hawkins, 62, died Thursday, July 10, after a long battle with cancer.
In
addition to his tenure on the New Richmond Board of Education, Mr. Hawkins
spent 14 years as New Richmond’s representative on the U.S. Grant Vocational
School board.
His
legacy as a volunteer includes 27 years of operating the football scoreboard
for freshman, JV and Varsity games; 26 years as the official scorer for New
Richmond freshman, JV and Varsity basketball games; and many years as
scoreboard operator and timer for league, district and NR track meets. He also
started the New Richmond Middle School wrestling program and served as
tournament director for 12 years and scorer for 16 years.
“Dave accomplished
more in his short lifetime than anyone else I can think of,” said his friend
and fellow school board member Kevin Walriven. “It's not every day you find
people of his dedication and I know for a fact his presence will be greatly
missed. I as well as many others have lost a true friend and confidant but I
carry the knowledge and experience he gave me for many years to come.”
His years
of dedication earned Mr. Hawkins the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s the
“Friends of Athletics Award” from the SW District Athletic Board in February. The
award is given to someone who has volunteered over 25 years at a school.
“Dave’s
loyalty and dedication to New Richmond Schools is second to none,” said New
Richmond High School athletic director and SW Board member Doug Foote. “Not one
time did I ever ask Dave for help and he turned me down. I lost a very dear
friend and so did New Richmond.”
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Dave Hawkins (right) interviews New Richmond
High School athletic director Doug Foote during a
newrichmond.localsportsradio.com broadcast. Mr. Hawkins, a member of the New
Richmond Board of Education for 22 years died July 10. Mr Hawkins helped broadcast more than 65 New Richmond athletic events each school year.
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Mr.
Hawkins will be inducted into the New Richmond Lions Sports Hall of Fame next
January.
“It was
our pleasure to tell Dave before he passed that the Hall of Fame Committee
selected him for induction into the New Richmond Hall of Fame as the Pride of
the Lion Award,” said Foote.
New
Richmond High School varsity basketball coach Brian McMonigle considered Mr.
Hawkins a special person from the time he met him as a freshman player in 1994.
“Dave
was one of those kind of guys who would push you to be better, and you knew
deep down that he truly cared about each one of us as players,” said McMonigle
who developed a close personal relationship with Mr. Hawkins when he became New
Richmond’s head coach.
“When I was
hired as head coach in 2009, the first thing I did was speak to Dave and we
spoke for almost three hours on just about everything,” recalled McMonigle. “You
knew he truly wanted the best for New Richmond. I was able to coach with Dave
as my scorekeeper for 4 seasons. He was
someone I could vent to as a coach and he was a great listener.”
Lions
baseball coach Brian Benzinger also developed a personal relationship with Mr.
Hawkins that began when he was a student athlete and extended to his coaching
career which saw Mr. Hawkins broadcast New Richmond baseball games for six
years on www.newrichmond.localsportsradio.com.
“No one
person in my years at New Richmond has demonstrated more loyalty, commitment,
and support for our school district,” said Benzinger. “For close to thirty
years, Dave Hawkins has been the number one representative of our school
district.”
Mr. Hawkins
graduated from New Richmond High School in 1970 and played football, baseball
and wrestled for the Lions. An arm injury stopped a promising baseball career
but his love for the game took him to the Major League Umpire School and a
short career as an umpire in the Florida State League.
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Dave Hawkins at his familiar spot in the football press box
running the scoreboard clock
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But his heart
was in his hometown so he returned to New Richmond where he married Brenda
Hamilton in 1973 and started a career with Cincinnati Bell and began his years
of dedication to New Richmond schools.
Besides
his wife, Mr. Hawkins is survived by his children David Hawkins and Amy Garrett
(Frank), grandchildren Brody, Riley and Emme Hawkins, and Jacob and Kodi
Garrett, great-grandson Hunter Garrett, brothers Dan Morgan, Don Hawkins, and
Dean Hawkins and sister Mary Binder.
Visitation for Mr. Hawkins will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Sunday, July 13, at the E.C. Nurre Funeral Home, 177 W. Main St. (St. Rt. 125) Amelia with funeral services at 10 a.m. Monday at Cranston Presbyterian Church, corner of Union and Washington Sts. in New Richmond. Burial will be in Watkins Hill Cemetery in New Richmond.