2017 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 43
BY SENATORS COLOMB AND BARROW AND REPRESENTATIVE SMITH
A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
To express the sincere condolences of the Legislature of Louisiana upon the death of Willie
Floyd Hawkins, a committed volunteer and a public servant of rare dedication and
extraordinary capabilities who looked only to serve the people of Louisiana.
WHEREAS, Willie Floyd Hawkins was born on April 17, 1945, to Leslie V. and
Henrietta Harris in Ethel, Louisiana and died on September 17, 2016, at the age of
seventy-one; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Hawkins graduated from Southern University in 1965 with a
Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and served as a Vista Volunteer at Columbia
University, School of Social Work in 1966 and 1967; and
WHEREAS, following his time as a Vista Volunteer, Willie Hawkins served in the
United States Army and, while stationed in Vietnam, he served with the Military Assistance
Command; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Hawkins was the recipient of the two and one-half year prestigious
Ford Foundation Fellowship Award in 1974; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Hawkins' career of public service spanned more than forty-two
years, serving the citizens of Louisiana, and Baton Rouge in particular, in the areas of higher
education, healthcare, and social services until his much deserved retirement on July 5, 2013;
and
WHEREAS, in 1978, Willie Hawkins began his public service as Executive Director
of the Eden Park Community Health Center and, later, as the administrator of East Baton
Rouge Parish Health Care Services; and
WHEREAS, also early in his professional career, Mr. Hawkins served several
nonprofit organizations, including functioning as director of both the Health and Social
Services for Community Advancements Inc. and the Young Adult Offender Program for the
Community Corrections and Rehabilitation Center; and
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WHEREAS, Willie Hawkins was named Executive Assistant to the Vice Chancellor
at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans-Health Care Services division, and CEO of the
Medical Center of Louisiana in New Orleans in July 1999, having previously served as
Executive Assistant to the Vice Chancellor at LSU Health Sciences Center from July 1997
to July 1999; and
WHEREAS, prior to his service with LSU, Mr. Hawkins served as the confidential
assistant to the CEO of the Louisiana Health Care Authority from November 1993 to
August 1995, and January 1996 to July 1997; and
WHEREAS, under the Louisiana Health Care Authority, Willie Hawkins served as
the acting administrator of Earl K. Long Medical Center from August 1995 to January 1996,
and as assistant administrator from April 1984 to November 1993; and
WHEREAS, prior to his retirement on July 5, 2013, from LSU as the Director of
Institutional Relations, a job he began in February 2004, Mr. Hawkins could be found on any
given day, at any given hour, navigating patients through the often complicated Louisiana
health care system; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Hawkins provided professional administrative leadership in public
health care for many years and he personally ensured that thousands of patients were able
to obtain medical appointments and emergency treatment regardless of their ability to pay;
and
WHEREAS, Willie Hawkins was known to all who served as city, parish, or state
officials, all city-parish department heads, and community leaders and he continued on a
firsthand basis with those who served the citizens of Louisiana, such was his dedication to
his state and its people; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Hawkins was extremely instrumental in securing from the Brown
family, the donation of property that make up strategic parts of the new medical clinic and
urgent care center campus in North Baton Rouge; and
WHEREAS, for over forty-two years Willie Floyd Hawkins put the healthcare
education and social services that were needed by any and every Louisianian above his own
concerns, and with his death Louisiana has lost a treasure of the caliber that the state may
never see again.
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THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
express sincere condolences upon the death of Willie Floyd Hawkins, a dedicated volunteer
and longtime public servant.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to
Claudia Davis Hawkins, wife of Willie Floyd Hawkins.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
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