Laureen "Laurie" Anne Hawley

On July 15, 2023, Laureen Anne Hawley passed away peacefully from her body in her home and ascended into Heaven where she has been welcomed by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

A visitation will be from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. on Friday, August 4, 2023, at O’Connor Memorial Chapel. A funeral service will be at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, August 5, 2023, also at O’Connor Memorial Chapel.

Laurie was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, December 16, 1957, to Frank and Rose Mary Derenne. She was an amazing mother, grandmother, sister, and friend to many. Laurie grew up in Menomonee, Wisconsin and had 3 brothers and 2 sisters. She attended Menomonee East High School as well as Elcho High School where she graduated in 1976. She was very active and competitive and loved the game of basketball from a young age and played all the way up until her senior year in high school.

After high school, she immediately joined the United States Air Force and did her bootcamp in San Antonio, Texas. While in training a young buck by the name of Jack Hawley was impressed at how fast Laurie finished chow beating out all the boys and girls in the foodcourt! So much so that he told himself “I need to meet this amazingly talented woman!” and soon after that they fell in love. Completely unknown and to their surprise they ended up standing in the same exact row and sequence number (row 2, number 2 from left to right) for their final bootcamp academy picture. It was just like a match made in Heaven and that their destinies would soon join together. Jack and Laurie married December 21, 1976, and they had one son together, Jack Hawley Jr.

During Jack and Laurie’s career together, they were stationed in many places including Las Vegas, NV, Madrid, Spain (Where Jack Jr. was born) Boston, MA, Zweibrucken, Germany, Bent Waters, England, then finally Great Falls, Montana where Laurie retired in 1997 after 20 years of service with the United States Air Force. Laurie was also a combat veteran and did a 6-month tour of duty after Desert Storm in 1993 in Saudia, Arabia. Soon after retiring from the Air Force, she remained employed through the military and worked as a Contractor/Civil Services at base supply for the next 27 years. With a grand total of 47 years employed, she planned on fully retiring in January of 2024, and looked forward to visiting many places all over the world. Unfortunately, she never got to see or enjoy this time well earned.

During her time on earth, she enjoyed bowling, ceramics, painting, gardening, and had a huge love for dogs. Her dogs were such a blessing to her in life and she committed a large amount of time raising a total of 8 dogs from 1986 until her passing. One of her best little buddies, a Yorkie named Sabastian AKA Big Boy passed away just one week before her. She loved visits with her grandchildren and spending time with her son and daughter-in-law. Laurie also was a proud member of the VFW (Veteran of Foreign Wars). She served her fellow comrades mostly at the VFW on 10th Ave South here in Great Falls, and spent many years enjoying her time with friends at this VFW Post. She and Jack traveled all over the United States attending VFW conventions, so much so that they were blessed with an all-expense paid trip to Dublin, Ireland back in 2018.

Laurie was a fighter for life defeating breast cancer’s big ugly head during the years 2010-2012. In 2019, Laurie discovered a growth on her stomach that soon put her in such pain that she ended up in the hospital for several days undergoing surgery. Little did she know the Lord was about to make what the enemy meant for evil and turn it too good. While in recovery and through a visitation from Pastor Lee Barrows and Dwight Smith her eyes and ears soon became open, and she received the good news. Lee and Dwight lead her in prayer and July of 2019 she gave her life to Jesus. From that moment on she was a spirit filled born again Christian. She attended New City Church and started to build a relationship with Jesus.

Laurie leaves behind her husband, Jack Hawley; son, Jack Hawley Jr.; stepdaughter, Jennifer Hawley; daughter-in-law, Jonalyn Hawley; 5 grandkids, Anabel, Beckham, Samuel and Akiana Hawley, and Alexis Allen; mother Rose Mary Derenne; brother, Larry Derenne; stepbrothers, Dany and Ron Weber; stepsisters, Carla Schneider and Denise Schmidt; many friends that were dear to her heart, two in particular, Joe Fletcher and Agnes Nellons; whom both stood by her side devoting much time during her last few months here on earth.