Posted on: Henderson County Obituaries Reply Here: http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/USA/Tx/HendersonObits/10203 Surname: Hawn, Sparkman ------------------------- Arthur Hawn was a part of one of Athens High School's largest graduating classes. He played both football and basketball for the Athens Hornets. He was a member of the 1933 Athens championship basketball Honor Team. After graduation from Athens High School, he attended Lamar Junior College and Southern Methodist University on football scholarships. He was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. He and Audrey Jean Noble of Dallas, also an SMU student, were married in 1940. At the time of their marriage, Hawn was owner and operator of a sawmill. He later sold the business. During World War II, he served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy. Soon after his discharge from the service, he managed the Ford Motor Company dealership in Athens that he and a brother had bought. While still in that business, he built houses in southeast Dallas. He also established an industrial park in Shreveport, La., along with a residential development. Hawn later built a shopping center in Shreveport. The Ford dealership was sold in the mid-1950s. Hawn was active in industrial development in Athens. He was a rancher and managed his commercial properties in Athens. He served at First State Bank in Athens for many years as board director. He also served on the board of directors for State National Bank in Corsicana. He was a member of Athens Rotary Club and served as president of Athens Municipal Water Authority. It was under his leadership that the authority purchased the property for Lake Athens and developed the 1,500-surface acre lake that today provides most of Athens' water supply. Mr. and Mrs. Hawn built the first home in the Hawn addition on Park Drive in 1952. They and their two children, Paul and Sally, moved to Dallas in 1966. Hawn was serving on the board of Athens Independent School District at the time of the move. He was a member of Park Cities Presbyterian Church in Dallas and was an avid golfer. At the time of his death, Mr. Hawn was president of the Hawn Foundation. Hawn was preceded in death by his parents, William Arthur Hawn Sr. and Edna Rebecca Lepord Hawn of Athens; five brothers, C.F. Hawn, W.R. "Fritz" Hawn, Frank L. Hawn, Joe "Verne" Hawn and Jimmy J. Hawn; and his son, Paul Michael Hawn, in 1978. He will be missed tremendously by his wife of 61 years, Audrey Noble Hawn of Dallas; daughter and son-in-law, Stephen and Sally Sparkman of Athens; and grandchildren, Adrienne Jean, Audrey Ann and Stephen Paul Sparkman, all of Athens. Hawn's death ends a generation of an unusually hard working, successful East Texas family that touched many lives in many places. Their family and friends will miss them all. A graveside service will be held at Athens Cemetery Tuesday, June 5, at 11 a.m. It will be followed by a memorial service at First Presbyterian Church in Athens at 2 p.m. with the Revs. Joe Warren and Lynette Solomon officiating.