| Rosa Lee Hawkins, left, Barbara Hawkins and Joan Marie Johnson were the original members of The Dixie Cups. This photo ran in the Sioux City Journal on Aug. 23, 1964. [via Newspapers.com] |
| A few weeks ago, my editor shared a story with me about the death of Rosa Lee Hawkins. I didn’t know her name at first, or the group she’d been with since she was a teenager, The Dixie Cups. But I sure knew two of their hit songs, Chapel of Love and Iko Iko. My next thought — she lived in Tampa? Yep, and longer than I have. Rosa Lee Hawkins and her sister, Barbara Hawkins, are the two original members of The Dixie Cups. They fled their hometown of New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, following Aaron Neville and the Neville family. But Rosa Lee Hawkins’ son lived in Tampa and summoned his mother and aunt to Florida. They stayed, first in motels, before settling in. “New Orleans was always home,” said her son, Eric Blanc. “For those of us from New Orleans, regardless of where we end up living, New Orleans is always a part of us.” But Hawkins cherished her time in Tampa, too, her son said, because it’s where she got to spend years with her grandchildren. Read more about Hawkins, who died on Jan. 11 due to complications from surgery. She was 76, and a star on the stage and off of it. |
| The Dixie Cups performed during the "From the Big Apple to the Big Easy" benefit concert in 2005 at New York's Madison Square Garden. Rosa Lee Hawkins, left, and her sister Barbara Hawkins, right, made Tampa their home. [JEFF CHRISTENSEN | Associated Press] |
| Here are some obituaries from the past week that I found in the obits section of the Tampa Bay Times, in the news and from local funeral homes. If you see any with great details, please share them.
• Read Paul Guzzo’s story for the Times about Frank Calta, a bodybuilder and Tampa gym owner who died at 75.
• Frances Fernandez, 96, of Tampa “blazed a trail by creating a work from home business before remote employment was even a concept. She taught so many young children the life-saving skills of swimming and water survival.”
• Regina Moore, 65, of St. Petersburg “spent her life loving her family and taking care of others as a beloved nurse.” • Jewell Matlock, 87, of Tampa “was a gifted seamstress and delighted in teaching sewing and crocheting to her granddaughter Alysse. There was not a crossword puzzle she couldn't solve, which resulted in a broad vocabulary and excellent spelling skills.” • Here’s a feel-good read for you: Tampa’s razed Seminole Heights Baptist Church’s steeple is now public art.
Thanks for reading, hug your people,
Kristen |
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