Shelby- Laurette Joy Hawkins, 65, died Sunday, December 5, 2021, at her home.

Years ago, her sisters nicknamed her "Peace". Laurette was always the gentle one among us, seeking to understand and to reconcile. She loved nature and she loved making people happy.... putting favorite cookies on guest's pillows, sneaking in a bag of their favorite snacks, dashing around on Saturday after Bible Study to prepare meals for friends, hosting holiday meals - always giving of herself. She was called "an Angel' by her sister-in-law, and beloved by her sisters.

Laurette was born on August 27, 1956 in Manhattan Hospital in New York City and attended Saint Joan of Arc Parochial School where she struggled with academics. She always displayed an artistic bent, which she expressed in needle point, wood carving and singing. She entered the workforce in New York City doing office work, and continued to advance in her career. Laurette relocated with her company to Gastonia, North Carolina. After that, she was no longer a Northerner, but loved the South. Eighteen years ago, she met and married Bobby Joe Hawkins. She helped Bobby develop his business, Shelby Signs. Her office, people, computer, and organizational skills were exceptional. Bobby encouraged her reading of the Scriptures. Her greatest love, outside of Bobby and her family, was "Abba".

Laurette's passing has her deeply missed by those she leaves behind: her sisters Linda Frank and Lydia Sexton, her sister-in-laws Vicki Leonard and Cindi Franceschina, her nephews and nieces, Ted and Tracie Sexton, Mark Sexton, Michael and Wendy Sexton, Ann Marie Sexton, and relatives and beloved friends too numerous to mention.

The funeral liturgy will be celebrated by Father Peter Ascik, Pastor of St Mary's Help of Christians Catholic Church, on Friday, December 10th, at 11:00 a.m. Internment will follow at Cliffside Cemetery in Mooresboro.

Arrangements are entrusted to Clay-Barnette Funeral Home and Aquamation Center