Emmet J. Hawkes, Sr.
Emmet passed away peacefully at the home he shared with his beloved wife, Sally. Emmet was born in New Jersey, the 4th of six children born to Edward and Edna Hawkes. With visions of cowboys in his head young Emmet and his family moved out west for his mother’s health. Emmet attended Catholic schools and graduated from Catholic High now Bishop Diego. Lucky for Emmet he met the love of his life, Sally Ramirez when he was just a teenager. Drawn to her large, loving Mexican family, everyone joked that he fell in love with Grandma Ramirez’s cooking before he fell in love with Sally. After high school he joined the army and was stationed in Tacoma Washington. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder and that was the case for Emmet and Sally. They were married at the Santa Barbara Mission in June of 1957. They welcomed their first child, Sherrie the following year while living in a tiny attic in Tacoma. Emmet realized early on that taking orders and following other people’s direction was not his strong suit. After being honorably discharged from the army they returned to Santa Barbara where they had their second child, Emmet Jr.
Emmet was unsure of his career path at this time and as Sally tells it, would work round the clock providing for his family. He worked various jobs, milkman, 7Up delivery, cigarette sales and gas station attendant. With the philosophy of ‘it’s not what you make, it’s what you save’ he was able to buy his first piece of property. This led him to his passion of real estate sales, eventually opening his own real estate firm, Hawkes & Co. In 1967 Emmet & Sally moved to Goleta where they welcomed their third child, Sally ‘Eileen’. Finally settling in Montecito in 1980 they were thrilled with the arrival of their bonus baby Cynthia.
Emmet touched many lives throughout the years and took great joy in helping people realize their dream of owning their own home. Along the way Emmet wisely invested in Santa Barbara real estate and even developed a few properties. Emmet’s legacy lives on with his four children, Sherrie (Scott) McIver, Emmet Jr., Eileen (Tom) Ochsner, Cynthia Hawkes, 14 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren. He will always be remembered as a self-made man who followed his dreams and was successful in both his personal life and his professional one. He would say he couldn’t have done it without his supportive wife Sally by his side and we agree.
We’d like to invite family and friends to join us in a celebration of Emmet’s life, which will be held at the Carousel Building at Chase Palm Park on September 29th 5:00pm. Everyone is invited to come and share fond memories and raise a glass to Big Em, always the life of the party! Anyone who knew Emmet knows he loved to wear shorts with his oxford shirts – feel free to come casual. RSVP to Eileen at eileeno1@cox.net or 805-705-6559.