John Z. Hawley

John Z. Hawley of Amarillo, TX joined his wife and daughter in heaven on March 11, 2023.

He was a beloved husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, brother, friend, and avid supporter of all the children in his life, especially his family.

John was born in Shamrock, TX to Lonnie and Lois Hawley on September 12, 1946.

John spent his youth growing up in Borger, TX, Amarillo, TX, and Altus, OK. There was never a dull moment in the Hawley house growing up with eight brothers and sisters. John met the love of his life, Nancy Pate at Altus High School where the two graduated in 1965. The two were married right out of high school on August 20, 1965. They were married for 49 years before Nancy passed in November of 2014. John and Nancy started their family immediately and moved to Amarillo, TX shortly after the birth of their third child.

In Altus, John worked for Goodyear as a tire salesman to fund his true passion of racing cars and motorcycles. Before too long, he joined the “family business” in construction which brought the family to Amarillo. The physical grind of framing and roofing houses, coupled with the dawn of the computer age, motivated John to get his associate’s degree in Computer Science. He began his long-term career as a computer programmer and systems analyst. He retired from this career with Affiliated Foods at the age of 75. He spent evenings coaching his children’s sport’s teams and refereeing high school basketball where he quickly earned the nickname of “Mr. T” due to quantity of technical fouls he issued.

Most recently, you could find him anywhere and everywhere that his grandchildren were playing, performing, and just living life. He loved his grandchildren dearly and would drop everything at a moment’s notice to attend their events or just lend a helping hand. You could find him on the sidelines of Sandies games yelling “Go Sandies,” and West Plains High School sporting events leading the fans in howling and cheering for the mascot. He made countless journeys to listen to the trumpet stylings of his grandson at Ray-Pec High School. He enjoyed making impromptu road trips to Missouri to spend the weekend with his great-granddaughter. He was known to fly across the country to spend time with his grandson in Washington state. He and his best friend always found a way to make it onto the Jumbotron at Sod Poodles games and WT basketball games where they were affectionately known as Matthau and Lemmon from Grumpy Old Men. On Sundays, you could find him at Temple Baptist Church singing in the choir, but his service at church was never just limited to Sundays. He served as a deacon for many years and volunteered often. John recently started flight school to fulfill a life-long dream of becoming a pilot. On March 11, he earned a different kind of wings.

He is preceded in death by his wife, Nancy Hawley, daughter Zoe Renee, his parents Lonnie and Lois Hawley, and three sisters.

He is survived by his daughter, Melissa Hawley of Amarillo, sons Kyle Hawley and wife Jennifer of Amarillo, Cale Hawley and wife Jessica of Amarillo, and grandchildren AJ Lee and wife Ariele, Aaron and Sydnie Hawley, Amberlee Gerald and husband Braxton, Kaitlyn, Bella, and Hudson Hawley, and great grand-daughter Tessa Wright, two brothers, three sisters, and numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Visitation is scheduled from 5:00 pm until 6:30 pm on March 16, 2023, at Boxwell Brothers Funeral Home, 2800 Paramount Boulevard, Amarillo, TX, 79109. The service is scheduled for March 17, 2023, at 2:00 pm, at Temple Baptist Church, 3208 South Van Buren Street, Amarillo, TX 79109. Interment will follow the service at Memory Gardens Cemetery of Amarillo, 14200 Interstate 27.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in honor of John Hawley to Temple Baptist Church, 3208 South Van Buren Street, Amarillo, TX 79109.