Laserfiche WebLink
lost his only brother. In September 1920, Flora's brother had been killed in the <br />Interurban train wreck that killed or injured a number of Louisville residents. <br />According to their daughter, Gloria, Henry was not talkative about his family <br />background, and he clearly had endured more than his share of family tragedy by the <br />time he was in his early twenties, having lost his father and brother and been <br />permanently separated from his mother. However, he was happy to have married into a <br />large Italian family in Louisville and he had many relatives through Flora who loved their <br />"Uncle Rassie," the nickname of "Rassie" being derived from his grandparents' last <br />name of Rasmuson. <br />The 1923 directory listed Henry and Flora Hawkins as living at this house. In the 1920s, <br />Henry worked at Ford Motor Co. in Denver, but directories from the time list him as <br />living in Louisville. <br />Henry's grandmother, Jane Rasmuson, died in 1922, and his grandfather, Magnus <br />Rasmuson, died in 1927. Before their deaths, they are believed to have continued to live <br />at 1140 Lincoln. <br />Henry and Flora Hawkins had three children: Wilma, born 1924; Gloria, born 1926; and <br />Gilbert, born 1927. They each grew up at 1140 Lincoln. Wilma graduated from Louisville <br />High School in 1942 and married Clarence Martella, who had grown up at the other end <br />of the block at 1100 Lincoln as the son of Liberato and Colomba Martella. Clarence <br />Martella served in the US Navy during World War II. Gloria graduated from LHS in 1944 <br />and entered nursing school the same year in order to become a cadet nurse in the U.S. <br />Cadet Nurse Corps. Gilbert graduated from LHS in 1946 and entered the service. <br />Starting with the 1928 directory for Louisville, Henry was listed as working as a coal <br />miner. He worked at the Hi -Way Mine and became a timberman (which typically <br />involved working with the timbers used for ceiling supports) at the Centennial Mine. By <br />the 1940s, he was working as a foreman at the Centennial Mine. According to his <br />daughter, Gloria, Henry worked as a carpenter during the warm summer months when <br />the mines in the area would close. Directories indicate that around the time that the <br />Centennial Mine closed for good in the early 1950s, Henry then predominantly worked <br />as a carpenter. <br />A few other Hawkins relatives also lived in the house at 1140 Lincoln. Flora's father, <br />Joseph Zarini, Sr., moved into the house after his wife, Virginia (Flora's mother) died in <br />1937. He lived at 1140 Lincoln until his death in 1940. At the time of the 1940 federal <br />census, he was still living, and he was listed as being a resident of the household and as <br />being 86 years old. Also, the 1951 directory shows that Gilbert Hawkins moved back into <br />1140 Lincoln with his wife, Janet. <br />4 <br />