His father Carl died in 1940, and his mother Elsie raised him alongside his two sisters Hazel and Helen.
In 1950, he graduated from Minnehaha Academy and joined the US Navy, followed by technical school at Dunwoody Institute, learning welding and blacksmithing.
[2] Bicycling Magazine wrote "The co-founder of Park Tool has never been a widely recognized figure, even in cycling circles.
In 2003, Hawkins retired to his home in Mahtomedi, Minnesota "to ride his bike, work in his woodshop and to watch his 13 grandchildren grow up".
On January 26, 2015, he died of complications related to a heart attack a few days after coronary stent surgery in Scottsdale.