Mrs. Jewell Hawkins Dalton Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information

Jewell Lydia Hawkins Dalton went to Heaven on March 25, 2022, and was born February 1, 1924 in the Newtown Community at the Hawkins homestead, located at the corner of Fouts and Holcomb Bridge Roads. The story goes that on the day she was born, first it rained, then sleeted, then snowed, and after she was born, the sun came out in the afternoon. She was the eldest of the seven Hawkins children, consisting of six girls and one boy. Jewell loved her siblings and parents, Corine Fouts and Ernest Hawkins, and considered herself the luckiest person on earth to have been born into the loving Hawkins family. Jewell spent almost her entire life in Newtown and was a lifelong member of Mt. Pisgah Methodist Church, where she and her sisters provided the special music each week during their younger years. She and her sisters had beautiful, harmonious, singing voices and were also talented pianists. They looked and sounded like angels to us children each Sunday morning, and they graciously fulfilled many requests to sing at funerals and other occasions for many, many years. In addition to the piano, Jewell played guitar, organ, and harmonica, mostly “by ear,” and music brought her much happiness throughout her lifetime. As a teenager, she and her sister, Doris, and a cousin created a band consisting of two guitars and a mandolin and were popular entertainment in the community, even winning an Alpharetta talent contest. Until recently, Jewell could still sit at the piano and sing and play almost every hymn from The Cokesbury Hymnal, all the while changing keys and embellishing, without opening the book. Being the eldest of the family, Jewell took on great responsibility as a child, and her desire to help and care for others never waned. She was a loving and caring wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend to all who knew her. This included any sick or needy person or any stray or injured animal that ever crossed her path, because it was her nature to protect, love, and nurture. Tow headed, blue eyed, and full of spunk, she always said she was her father’s “go boy” (the only brother being number five in the birth order), and she was driving by age 12 and helping with farm work, picking cotton, sewing, and cooking for the younger siblings from the time she could manage to reach the stove. Her colorful and detailed stories of growing up during the Great Depression and the war years were enjoyed by all, and she had a way of putting the listener right in the barn with her milking the cow on a cold winter morn, riding the clackety, crowded train to Montana alone as a young bride, hiding under the stairs all day to avoid a dose of castor oil while her frantic family searched for her, or beside her as a nine year old girl, barely able to reach the sewing machine peddle, sewing muslin sheets for the family. Jewell was set to attend Berry College until the bombing of Pearl Harbor disrupted those plans. After high school graduation she married her one true love, Forrest Ervin Dalton, in 1942, and the two were happily married for 60 years. Their love, respect, and honor for each other created a happy home for their three children, who were always the focus of their parents’ love and the beneficiaries of all that is good in life and family. They saw their children as their greatest accomplishment, as evidenced by the inscription on their grave marker, “Parents of Rick, Connie, and Sandra.” The work ethic of Jewell and Ervin was unmatched, and like so many of those raised during the Depression they started with nothing, but through perseverance and resolve were able to create a better life for their family. They recycled long before it became chic and were conservationists without even knowing it, because in their eyes not to be a good steward was a sin. They loved their little plot of land and cared for it with pride. After the loss of her beloved husband, Jewell continued to live alone until age 94, working hard in her home and garden, fueled by grit and determination and an independent streak that was often the bane of her children. With all her heart, Jewell loved her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren beyond measure. Adored by her grandchildren, “Granna” spoke of them with a huge smile on her face and such joy in her eyes. Her immense pride and love for the great grandchildren could not be contained. Other than her family, Jewell’s greatest joy throughout life came from growing flowers, in particular roses, lilies, daffodils, and dahlias. She promised God she would work hard to give bouquets to all her family, friends, and acquaintances, and all she ever wanted in return was to see them smile. Jewell knew the name of every rose she ever planted, and during the growing season, gorgeous bouquets were happily received by everyone she knew. Finding a shriveled, barely alive plant on the discount rack and doing her best to turn it into a green and blooming beauty was a challenge she enjoyed. A faithful Christian, Jewell knew she was blessed and loved by God and lived her life to honor Him. She saw the fulfillment of hope, the beauty of the earth, and the promise of Heaven in every budding rose, and she will be forever missed by those who loved her. Goodbye, dearest Mother, until we meet again in that Beautiful Garden in the Sky. Preceded in death by her husband, Forrest Ervin Dalton, Jewell is survived by her beloved Children, Grandchildren, and Great-Grandchildren: Rickie Ervin and Brenda Dalton; Connie Dalton and Jerome Hunter; Sandra Dalton and Michael Webb; Mathis Dalton Hunter; Leah Sandel, Matthew, Taryn Lydia, and Trace Thomas; Thomas Ervin Dalton; Wesley, Abby, Hawkins, and Benson Hunter; Brent, Shannon, and Porter Sandel; Shanon and Conner Webb. Surviving siblings are Doris Hawkins Lord, Shirley Hawkins Smith, Lawrence and Janie Hawkins, Sue Hawkins and Tom Buhl; and niece, nephews, grand and great nieces and nephews, and cousins. Preceded in death by Sister Audrey Hawkins Lee and Baby Sister Pamela Hawkins, and by brothers-in-law Donald Smith, Ralph Lee, Ollie Lord, Jr., and niece Melinda (Lynn) Lee Morris. The family wishes to acknowledge the special women who cared for our Mother in her home with such love and tenderness. Because of Mary Flanagan (MaeMae), Dana Mata (Nadine), Patricia Brooks, and Sandra Owens, we fulfilled our promise to keep Mother in her home and we could rest easy knowing our Mother’s every need was met with kindness, skill, and genuinely caring hearts and hands. We will be forever grateful to these ladies who loved and respected our Mother and always treated her with dignity. The family will receive friends on Monday, March 28, 2022 from 4:00pm to 8:00pm at Northside Chapel, 12050 Crabapple Road, Roswell, GA 30075. A funeral service will be held the following day, Tuesday, March 29, 2022 at 11:00am in the funeral home chapel. Interment will follow at Green Lawn Cemetery.

Mrs. Jewell Hawkins Dalton

February 1, 1924 - March 25, 2022