dnesday marks a milestone moment in my life. It occurred at
Hollister’s Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital. It’s the day exactly
40 years ago I made my journey from the womb to the world.
Wednesday marks a milestone moment in my life. It occurred at Hollister’s Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital. It’s the day exactly 40 years ago I made my journey from the womb to the world.
At 8:43am on Nov. 29, 1966, I was born to Raymond and Gisela Cheek. Of course, I don’t remember that messy moment of popping out of my mom into the hands of Dr. Roderick Yip. But my mom never hesitated to remind me on later occasions that it was a very painful birthing. Two weeks late, I weighed more than 10 pounds. Nurse Margaret Velho told my parents I looked like a 6-month-old infant.
Decades before my birth, a set of sad circumstances led to my happening to be born at Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital. Thomas S. Hawkins, an esteemed pioneer citizen of Hollister, suffered a family tragedy.
Hawkins was born on March 6, 1836, in Marion County, Mo. As a teenager, he studied at Harrison Academy in Cynthiana, Ky, and after graduating from that seminary school, he taught for two years. Following that, Hawkins began another two-year stint selling merchandise to farm towns along the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad.
In 1858, he married a woman named Catherine Patton, and on Jan. 5, 1860, she gave birth to a son they named Thomas Warren Hawkins. That same year, the 24-year-old Hawkins organized a wagon train and took his wife, newborn and a herd of cattle west across the great American prairie and rugged mountain ranges.
The Hawkins family ended their long trek in San Jose. There, the ambitious young Hawkins learned about fertile land in the southern reaches of Santa Clara County. So he sold his cattle and used the money to buy a farm in the San Felipe region near Gilroy.
In 1862, Catherine died. Two years later, Hawkins married Emily Day, a Santa Clara County woman. Over the years, she’d give him four children – Charlie, William, Kathryn and Winfield.
Seeing the future opportunities in San Benito County, Hawkins sold his San Felipe ranch in 1866 and moved a few miles south to join developers planning a community for settlers coming west. Their San Justo Association land company voted to name the new town “Hollister” in honor of member Colonel William W. Hollister.
Thomas Hawkins saw the potential for the town’s growth when the Southern Pacific railroad made the village the destination of a branch line it built. For four years, the San Justo Association ran the development of the community. Then Hawkins gained complete control – and it made him rich.
In 1874, the town’s patriarch turned to finance and formed the Bank of Hollister. Hawkins served as its president for many years, even after the bank merged with the Bank of Italy. He also stayed active by forming the Hollister Water Company, the Hollister Gas Company and the Hollister Warehouse Company which became successful business enterprises under his guidance. And he built several beautiful homes in town, including a large mansion on South Street with gardens covering almost an entire block.
A devout Christian, Hawkins helped finance construction of Hollister’s Methodist Church and served as its first Sunday School superintendent until his death. On two of his political pursuits, voters elected him to the post of county supervisor for several terms as well to Hollister’s board of trustees. And showing his patriotism for America, for many years Hawkins proudly chaired Hollister’s Fourth of July Committee organizing the town’s annual Independence Day parades and firework shows.
Adding to his happiness, Hawkins’ son Winfield married and gave him a granddaughter named Hazel. The elder Hawkins adored the girl and nicknamed her “Little Sunshine.” But sadness struck the family one tragic day. On March 5, 1902, the 9-year-old Hazel died from appendicitis.
Hawkins believed Hazel might have lived if the community of Hollister had only had a hospital facility. Spurred by his great grief, the patriarch of Hollister decided to provide the town with a lasting gift – a hospital named in honor of his beloved granddaughter.
Built on the corner of Monterey and Hawkins streets, Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital publicly opened on Nov. 13, 1907. During the ceremony, Thomas Hawkins modestly described how the new facility came to be: “I do not even claim the conception of this work. It is said in Holy Writ: ‘And a little child shall lead them.’ So from the beautiful and unselfish life of the little girl whose name adorns these portals, came the inspiration for all that has been done.”
Hawkins paid entirely for the hospital’s construction. He also helped tide it over during times when money was tight. On April 6, 1924, he died in the hospital that bears his beloved granddaughter’s name.
Hazel Hawkins Hospital served San Benito County’s needs for many decades. But as the population of Hollister grew, its space became cramped for patients, nurses and doctors. So in 1962, on land on the farming outskirts of Hollister’s southern city borders, a modern medical facility was built. Appropriately located on Sunset Drive, it retained the name Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital after “Little Sunshine.”
Four years after that new Hazel Hawkins opened, I was born inside it one fine autumn morning. Forty years – 40 good and interesting years – have passed since that day.
As my milestone birthday approaches, I look back on my last four decades and ponder a bit about my life. I was truly blessed with wonderful parents who guided me during my growing up years to know what’s right and wrong. And I’ve enjoyed excellent health, made many friends, and traveled to many interesting places. Overall, I’ve had a lot of fun.
On deeper reflection, I know that, like myself, many thousands of people have been born in Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital over the years. We all share the honor of coming into the world at a medical facility given to Hollister by a man of vision. Thomas S. Hawkins wanted people to remember his “Little Sunshine.”
