Hawes married Frank Hawes, her husband of 62 years, in 1950, and co-founded Hawes Realty in Dayton. Together, they built one of the region’s largest Black-owned real estate firms, which at one time employed more than 30 agents across two offices.
Her daughter, Ro Nita Hawes-Saunders, told Dayton Daily News that her mother fought against discriminatory practices like redlining and inequitable lending to help thousands of Black families achieve homeownership in the Dayton area.
“They started with the Leila Francis company here in the Miami Valley, and they also were very engaged in the civil rights movement, especially my mother,” Hawes-Saunders said. “My mother really felt that it was important for black families to have access to home ownership, and the more they got involved in the real estate business, the more discriminatory, they realized that it was not only in terms of neighborhoods, but also in terms of the challenging mortgage practices to be able to even purchase a home or get funding for purchasing a home.”
Hawes also battled injustice and inequality during the Civil Rights movement, her daughter said.
“My mother was involved in several protests (nationwide), not only in the city of Dayton,” Hawes-Saunders said. “She was arrested several times for protests and for sit ins in all aspects of civil rights in the community. She also went to Washington, D.C. and was arrested along with Arthur Ashe (during a protest for equality).”
“She was a dynamite advocate for justice, and I think that that’s key to who she is and what she stood for.”
Born on Oct. 1, 1930, in Campbellsburg, Kentucky, Hawes moved to Dayton during high school to live with her aunt and uncle. She graduated from Roosevelt High School and later studied at Wilberforce University and Capitol University.
Hawes held leadership positions in the Dayton Association of Real Estate Brokers and earned numerous awards, including Entrepreneur of the Year from the University of Dayton’s Small Business Development Center and Outstanding Realtist Award for her commitment and service.
She also was honored as a Kentucky Colonel, a recognition presented by the governor of Kentucky.
“Our mother was a trailblazer, an individual who truly would take on the cause of not only community, but the cause for our people,” Hawes-Saunders said.
Her activism continued for decades through her work with various area organizations, including, but not limited to, the Dayton Human Relations Council and the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission.
Hawes championed education, equal rights, and justice, and worked to ensure that those in positions of power ”would do the right thing," Hawes-Saunders said.
“She emphasized the fact that somebody has to speak up,” her daughter said.
Hawes is survived by her daughter and a son, Fredric Hawes (Brenda), plus three grandchildren, two sisters and a brother.
Visitation is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, July 1, at Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church, 1 Diamond Ave., Dayton, and will be followed by a noon service. Interment is set for Woodland Cemetery, 118 Woodland Ave., Dayton.
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