Nora May Hawkins

Nora May Hawkins, of Chandler, Oklahoma, passed away on September 14, 2026, at the age of 95. She was born on January 23, 1931, in Hendricks, Indiana to Otto L. and Lena P. (Weaver) Cummings.

Over the years, Nora worked as a nurse's aide in hospitals and care facilities, as a machine parts inspector, and as a housekeeper before retiring.

Her family knew her as the one who held everyone together, especially after her the death of her husband. She continued working, providing strength and reassurance, and became the steady presence her loved ones relied on. She always said she could take care of herself, and she did.

She was very outgoing and loved being at the center of a group, and those who knew her treasured the stories she told. She enjoyed traveling in her younger days and in her later years, she stayed connected to those she loved by using a tablet to watch younger family members grow through pictures.

Nora also held close the keepsakes of her life, saving boxes of memories that meant so much to her, from her oldest loved ones to her youngest. Her memory will also live on in the stories her family continues to tell—of her playing softball and once catching the ball with her right eye and of singing Christmas carols while doing the dishes. One Christmas, when she had a cold and spent the day on the couch, even that became part of the family’s cherished recollections.

Nora May Hawkins will be remembered for her strength, her independence, her lively presence, and the love she poured into her family. Her life touched many, and her stories, laughter, and enduring example will remain with all who were blessed to know her.

Nora was preceded in death by her parents, Otto and Lena Cummings; husband, Victor Hawkins; son, John Leslie Romine; grandson, Victor Theodore Morse; daughter, Jerry Sue Romine Hawkins Rowan; brothers, Robert “Bud” Cummings and Albert “Butch” Cummings; sisters, Beverly Jean Guthrie and Leona Catherine “Kate” Umberger; her family of Romines, Jerry, Homer, Ervin and Robert; sister-in-law, Penny Ganske; and mother and father-in-law Corrine, and Bert Plotz.

She is survived by daughters, Janet Morse and Joyce Matrone; sisters, Betta Cassidy, Joy Crocker, Lura “Tina” Reeves of Missouri, and Eilleen Roberts of Illinois; sisters-in-law, Judy Kempt and Connie Kreamalmeyer; five grandchildren; eleven great grandchildren; and nine great-great-grandchildren.