WHITE BEAR LAKE, MN (January 30, 2015) – Alyce (Larson) Hawkinson, widow of Covenant minister and administrator Jim Hawkinson, died Wednesday. She was 81.
A memorial service will be held at Salem Covenant Church in New Brighton, Minnesota, at 1 p.m. Friday, February 6.
Alyce was born May 27, 1933, in Kansas City, Missouri, to Covenant pastor Leonard and Alice (Bloomgren) Larson, who had recently returned from mission work in China to serve at First Covenant Church.
She studied at the Kansas City Conservatory of Music and later at North Park College. While at North Park she met Jim, who was attending seminary. He was a musical soloist, and Alyce quickly became his accompanist.
They were married June 11, 1954. The couple ministered at a number of churches, including Bethel Covenant Church in Middletown, Connecticut (internship); Bethany Covenant Church in Chicago (interim); Redeemer Covenant Church in Chicago (associate); Evangelical Covenant Church in Paxton, Illinois, initially as interim pastor and later as senior pastor; and the Evangelical Covenant Church in Hilmar, California, as senior pastor. Jim later joined the denominational offices in September 1966 as executive editor of publications, assuming the position as executive secretary of Covenant Publications in July 1970.
As executive secretary of Covenant Publications, Jim oversaw the creation of the current Covenant Hymnal. Alyce, an accomplished pianist who also amazed friends her perfect pitch, worked through the sheet music for every hymn to make certain of each note.
The couple retired to White Bear Lake, Minnesota, in 1995. The couple were married 57 years until Jim’s death in 2011.
She is survived by two daughters and three sons: Judy (Bob) Stromberg, Hugo, Minnesota; Eric (Patty) Hawkinson, Turlock, California; Mary (Bob) Manning, Minneapolis, Minnesota; Peter (Bonnie) Hawkinson, Wilmette, Illinois; and Paul (Kristin) Hawkinson, Green Oaks, Illinois; 16 grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren.
Memorial gifts can be directed to the School of Music at North Park University in Chicago
