Community mourns passing of beloved 'Grandma'

SANDPOINT — Lorena Hawkins wasn’t just a mother to her four children.

She was also the matriarch behind Litehouse Foods and through community involvement a nurturer to the entire community. The community lost that mother last week when Hawkins unexpectedly passed away.

 As the wife of Edward Hawkins, owner of the now-closed Litehouse Restaurant and founder the Litehouse Foods, Lorena was completely committed to supporting her husband’s goals. But that didn’t mean she sacrificed anything for the benefit of her marriage, her children said.

“We used to think that she was dependent on Dad,” her youngest son Edward Hawkins Jr. said. “But looking back, maybe it was the other way around.”

 In 1958, Edward and Lorena Hawkins purchased Herschell’s Lighthouse in Hope and transformed the establishment into Litehouse Restaurant.

“The restaurant completely relied on Mom,” oldest daughter Diana Parsons said. “She was the janitor, the bookkeeper — she pretty much did everything.”

For Hawkins, the workday didn’t truly end until she was asleep. After managing her multiple responsibilities at the restaurant, she continued working in the three-bedroom apartment above the business where the family of six shared cramped living quarters.

“She always told us, ‘You don’t know how hard I work,’” Ed Hawkins said. “That wasn’t true. We knew exactly how hard she worked. But I don’t think we ever gave her enough appreciation for that.”

Just after World War II, Edward Hawkins Sr. had developed a bleu cheese dressing recipe for the Spokane restaurant where he worked at the time. That recipe became a staple of Litehouse Restaurant, and soon, customers were packing empty jars to purchase the dressing after their meal. That small source of side revenue began steadily expanding in the ‘60s into the international business that it is today.

In the beginning, however, it was small-scale operation that the Hawkins managed on their own along with the restaurant and the kids’ own burgeoning careers.

“She was the backbone of that business,” Parsons said. “I remember her sitting in the backroom mixing dressing and then driving it to Spokane in the middle of the night by herself.”

Hawkins didn’t manage all the aspects of her personal and professional life without developing some serious fortitude. Her children vividly remember her tireless nature.

“She was tough, my goodness,” Hawkins Jr. said. “As Dad’s health started failing, she was diagnosed with cancer and had one of her kidneys removed. After the surgery, she was back on her feet and taking care of dad like nothing had ever happened.”

Throughout her life, Hawkins was completely devoted to her two cornerstones. One was her family. There was nothing she wouldn’t do for her kids whether it was as life-changing as supporting her kids’ college education or as commonplace as baking them her famous cookies.

On the other hand, cookies could be a major endeavor, too. Ed Hawkins recalls the Christmas of ‘68 when all the family was gathered with their spouses and girl or boyfriends.

“It was snowing like crazy outside and there wasn’t much to do besides sit around and eat cookies,” he said. “Mom said she ended up making 200 dozen cookies over that period. I don’t know about that, but we could each easily eat a dozen cookies a day, so it added up.”

Hawkins also dedicated her life to her faith. A devoted Christian and the daughter of a Nazarene minister, Hawkins lived her life according to biblical principles.

“She was completely devoted to her faith and was a real prayer warrior,” Parsons said. “She kept praying right up until the very moment she died.”

Known as “grandma” to dozens of people beyond her own family, Hawkins recovered from her husband’s death in 1984 to a vibrant and energetic new start. She was active in her church and traveled the world. Her vivacious personality and sharp intellect remained intact until her death.

“She never degenerated into an old woman or lose herself in any way,” Ed Hawkins Jr. said. “Her family and friends are here to celebrate that fact.”