Nancy Carol Blei Hawkins, age 92, formerly from Earleville, MD, died March 27, 2026, in Durham Hospital, Durham, NC. Nancy was born on October 12, 1933, in Philadelphia, PA, the daughter of the late Harry F. Blei and Ida Reibel Blei. She graduated from Roxborough High School in Philadelphia, PA, in 1951 and played 1st chair violin in the Philadelphia Junior Philharmonic Orchestra. Nancy married the late William “Bill” Hawkins on April 3, 1954.

Nancy was creative. She loved knitting, weaving, sewing, gourmet cooking, flower arranging, and teaching those skills to her children, grandchildren, friends, and “her Girl Scouts.” She was active with the Cecilton Methodist Church, the Queen Anne’s Garden Club, and she served as a Girl Scout leader for 20 years. 

She was an adventurer and explorer, starting in high school by hiking the Appalachian Trail with her Girl Scout Troop; she climbed Mt. Sinai and the Giza Pyramids, sailed the Nile, and rode camels in Egypt; she climbed Diamond Head and Mt. Kilauea and learned to make leis in Hawaii; she traveled through France on a liveaboard canal boat; and for 10 years, she and her husband enjoyed sailing the Atlantic and island hopping the Caribbean, including the coasts of South America, Central America, and the Panama Canal.

Nancy is survived by her 3 children, Sheryll “Sherry” Hawkins Watkins (Jim Watkins) of Jacksons Gap, AL; Stephen W. Hawkins of Rising Sun, MD; and Wendy Hawkins Morris (Robert Morris) of Pittsboro, NC; 5 grandchildren: Krys Watkins Mozeley (Gary Mozeley), Aaron Lodge (Kelsey Lodge), Bill Hawkins (Rachel Hawkins), Becky Hawkins, Bobby Hanlon; 9 great-grandchildren; and 2 great-great-grandchildren.

A celebration of Nancy’s life will be held on Monday, June 22, 2026, at 12 pm, at the Galena Funeral Home of Stephen L. Schaech, 118 West Cross St., Galena, MD, where family and friends may call from 11 to12. The family requests donations to Bright Focus for macular degeneration research or to the Susan G. Komen Foundation for breast cancer research in lieu of flowers. Lunch will follow; guests are asked to RSVP via the private invitation they received.