(1921 – 2001)
If someone needed to know why a cake failed its potential, they called Lucille Hawkins. If someone needed help with the latest home furnishings, they called Lucille Hawkins. If someone needed just the “right inspirational verse” for the Homemakers Club Meeting, they called Lucille Hawkins. And she answered those calls in Morgan, Cherokee, and Limestone counties.
Many families remember her making home visits to answer questions on canning, to see the new baby, or to bring the latest information from the Extension office. In a newspaper article, Lucille Hawkins is quoted: “Meeting new people each day is something I enjoy. I find it interesting to work with the people of the county.”
At one time, there were more than 30 Homemakers Clubs with over 500 members meeting each month. The club presidents and program leaders attended special training schools conducted by Miss Hawkins in order to learn more to demonstrate to their clubs.
Miss Hawkins also saw Morgan County gradually change from a rural setting to an urban environment. The Health Council was established that brought a clinic to the Somerville area. The Farmers Market in Decatur became a place to get canning and freezing information and to have pressure canners tested.
Miss Hawkins is remembered to most for being able to see and talk with individuals. “It helps in understanding how people react to certain situations,” she wrote in an Annual Narrative. Her gift to the families of Morgan County was seeing them as people and caring for their lives.
Eva Lucille Hawkins, born and raised in Collinsville, Alabama, began her Cooperative Extension Service career in 1948 after graduating from Alabama College in Montevallo, Alabama. She served briefly in Cherokee and then Limestone counties before settling in Morgan county in 1950 as the Home Demonstration Agent. She retired on September 30, 1979.
It is a befitting tribute to someone who worked so tirelessly for the people of Alabama for over 31 years to inscribe the name Eva Lucille Hawkins on the dedicatory plaque of the Extension Memorial Chapel.
Chapel Plaque Inscription Number: 432
