Martin Hawkins

Martin C. Hawkins III, was born May 20, 1930 in Little Rock, Ark., the only son of Dr. Martin C. Hawkins, Jr., and his wife, Marion Alexander. His family later moved to Searcy, where he grew up. After a brief but eventful enrollment at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, he learned the ins and outs of the farming business working for his uncle, George Alexander, of Scott, Ark. At the outbreak of the Korean War, he joined the Army, serving as an Ordnance Warrant Officer, responsible for explosive ordnance disposal. After the war, he completed his studies at the University of Arizona, where he earned a degree in political science. After graduation in 1958, and at the height of the Cold War, he was recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency, and began his career as a clandestine intelligence officer. During his 22 year career, he served tours of duty in Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Uruguay, and Vietnam. Throughout his career, he served with distinction, earning several awards, including the Medal of Merit and the Intelligence Star, one of the CIA's highest awards for valor. The latter was earned for counterinsurgency operations involving "grave personal risk," while serving in Guatemala. He retired from the CIA in 1980, after serving as Chief of Station in Bogotá, Colombia. Following retirement, he worked as an Agency contractor in El Salvador, supporting operations against the Sandinistas; lending his hand, one last time, to the defeat of Marxist-Leninists insurgencies in Latin America. Retirement in Arkansas gave him time to return to his beloved Pine Canyon Ranch. There he raised trees, horses, hay, cattle, and a number of barn cats. In addition to working the ranch, he involved himself in Searcy civic life, serving as Chairman of the White County Republican Party, as a member of the Searcy Police Commission, and for several years as a volunteer for the White County Library, where he was a loyal patron for the rest of his life. In 1995, he met his future wife, Jessica Ray, and discovered his second true vocation — buying, restoring, and selling fine antiques. As a lifelong collector of books, dueling pistols, and other antique arms, he was a self-taught restoration artist. It wasn't until he married Jessica that he was able to put his knowledge of antiquities to commercial use. This pleased him immensely and they enjoyed many years discovering hidden treasures throughout the South. In marrying Jessica, he gained not only a wife, but a daughter, Molly, who he considered his own. Martin leaves behind Jessica Hawkins, his wife of 21 years; daughter, Molly Young; two sons, Alex Hawkins and Matt Hawkins; and one stepson, Jack Burge II; grandchildren, Chris Hawkins, Sarah Longenecker, Harrison Young, Henry Young, Hamilton Young, and Jack Burge III, and Caroline Burge; and one great-grandson, Jacob Longenecker, who arrived on the day Martin died. Memorial services will be 11 a.m. Saturday, March 11, at Trinity Episcopal Church in Searcy. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Trinity Episcopal Church. Services have been entrusted to Sullivan Funeral Care of Kensett. Phone: 501-742-3621. Condolences: www.SullivanFuneralCare.com.