Jessie L.

Talley

Jessie Lee Hawkins was born on November 10, 1937 at Mercy Hospital in Toledo, Ohio to Jesse and Mary Hawkins. She went to sleep to await the return of our Lord on January 26, 2026, at the age of 88. Jessie was the second born of six children – five girls and one boy. She was quite helpful in the household and cared for her younger sisters and brother.

In her younger years, she attended Gunkel Elementary and Robinson Junior High Schools, going on to graduate from Libbey High School in 1955. A review of Jessie's report card and attendance record shows her grades were as good as her attendance. In 1973, she attended Davis Junior College where she completed a course of study to become certified as a Card punch and Verifier Operator. Not long after graduating from high school, Jessie met and eventually married, Dewey E. Talley, who was a fire-fighter in Toledo's first, black-staffed firehouse. To this union, two children, Lesley and Debora, were born.

Jessie lived in Toledo her entire life and worked for the Toledo Public Schools (TPS) system at Robinson Junior High for 34 years - in the beginning as a cafeteria worker and in her later years as a hall monitor - before retiring in 2001. As a result of her years at Robinson, there were very few places she could go in Toledo without running into students who knew her!

For over fifty years, Jessie has been a faithful and active member of Bethel Seventh-day Adventist Church, now Parkwood SDA Church. She served as both a pianist and organist, and the choir director at Bethel. After the church relocated to Parkwood, in the city's Old West End District, she continued to play the organ, accompanied by her son on the piano, and eventually formed a small singing group of ladies. Through the years that Jessie served the church, she was also a Sabbath School Superintendent, a board member, and an Assistant Treasurer. She was faithful in her attendance and giving and learned to love the Lord.

Jessie was somewhat quiet, but was a joy to be around. She enjoyed participating in church activities and was supportive of all its endeavors. Often, she would do things without letting anyone know she had done it. In her leisure time, Jessie enjoyed crocheting, playing the piano, sitting on the porch, cooking, and spending time with her family. She was known for making pound cakes, and often would get orders to bake several. In later years, she took up playing the autoharp. She developed a new love for entertaining after her children introduced grandchildren into her life and even great-grandchildren.

Jessie was preceded in death by her husband of nearly 40 years, Dewey E. Talley; her mother, Mary Emma (Hawkins) Williams; a sister, Marylou Madison, and her brother, Larry Hawkins; two brother in-laws, Carl King and Lagrant Jaynes.

She leaves to mourn her passing and celebrate her life, her two children, Lesley Talley and Debora (Ron) Nelson; sisters, Beverly Hawkins-King, Tipp City, Ohio; Sharon (O'dell) Hooks, Columbus, Ohio; and Diane (Jaynes) Hawkins of Dayton, Ohio; five grandchildren, Jermaine Whitely of Brooklyn, New York, Adrienne (Steve) Coley, Nia, Nileah, and Nakeah Talley; three great-grandchildren, Da'Lon, Donaven, and Da'Leah Coley, all of Toledo, Ohio; and a host of relatives and dear friends.

Jessie will be dearly missed.