Heart of a servant: The life and legacy of Catherine ‘Kay’ Hawkins

Sometime in 1948, an unidentified photographer — probably a student enrolled at Lindsay Collegiate Institute — had more than a dozen members of the Victoria County buildings staff pose on the east steps of the county courthouse (now City Hall). The camera clicked, and the photograph was published on page 24 of the Lindsay and Victoria County Old Home Week Souvenir Booklet, which was handed out to visitors and residents who took in that event from July 1 to 10 in 1948.

Unlike the group photo of county council in the same Souvenir Booklet, which was made up entirely of men, that of the county buildings staff reveals that almost half their number were women. Among them was Catherine “Kay” Hawkins, an almost 22-year-old stenographer who worked in the clerk and treasurer’s office starting in the mid-1940s. In the almost 75 years between the time that picture was taken on the old courthouse steps and her death on June 3, 2021, Kay would become a fixture in the local legal and volunteer sector, touching many lives and influencing countless people.

Born Catherine Isobel Hazelton on Sept. 2, 1926, this remarkable woman grew up in a family of four children on Regent Street in Lindsay and began her formal education at Alexandra Public School. From here she went on to L.C.I., graduating in 1943 with an Intermediate Certificate and a three-year Commercial Certificate. A year later, Kay married Harry Hawkins, whose musical talents are still remembered by many local residents to this day. Kay and Harry were both 17 at the time, and they would spend another 55 years together before Harry’s death in 1999.

Kay remained in the employ of Victoria County through 1957, when she took a job with the Provincial Court Offices as court clerk and in so doing became the first woman to enter Lindsay’s male-dominated legal field. Kay was the only employee in the provincial court office when she started; when she retired as court administrator for the provincial Family Court Division almost 30 years later, 13 employees were answering to her.

In addition to her work as a court administrator, Kay served as a justice of the peace for nearly two decades — a position that required her to issue subpoenas, summonses and warrants; remand those in custody; swear affidavits; and perform marriages. In this role, she became well acquainted with local police officers, who had nothing but the greatest respect for her. “‘The Boys’,” as she called them, came to her door many times in the wee small hours requiring her at the police station to remand an accused individual into custody until an appearance before a judge could take place,” remembers Carol Link, a member of Kay’s extended family. “Being small town Lindsay, the officers would come to the house and drive her to the police station rather than have her get the car out and drive herself downtown in the middle of the night.”

When Kay was an infant in the 1920s, the legal system could be harsh and vindictive. Former MPP Leslie Frost once reminisced about how, as a young lawyer, he had to defend a case before a judge whose “main qualification for his position on the Bench was that he had commanded the troops in Camp Borden in 1916 and was noted for his abrasive character.” By contrast, Kay Hawkins approached her position with the heart of a servant.

“When she spoke with the accused,” says Carol, “she always tried to listen to their story, hoping to advise them and direct them to turn things around in order that she wouldn’t be seeing them again in the same situation.” Kay was firm, Carol recalls, but also diplomatic and respectful. “She was very patient, compassionate and understanding, and her door was always open.”

More pleasant were those occasions when Kay was called upon to perform marriages — more than 1,100 of them in fact; a number that included a nephew, a niece and other members of her family. Family was vitally important to Kay, something her niece Sheila Prouse remembers well. “Visiting Auntie Kay and Uncle Harry was a highlight for the nieces and nephews,” Sheila says. “Everyone was welcomed with open arms and doted upon. When we visited there were always kid-friendly treats and meals. We loved playing in her office and were even allowed to use her typewriter!”

Kay cared deeply about her community and worked hard as a volunteer to improve the lives of others. Among the organizations which were enriched by her service were the Canadian Cancer Society, for which she volunteered for more than 40 years and the Ross Memorial Hospital Ladies’ Auxiliary, with whom she spent more than 30 years. Kay also drove for Community Care’s Meals on Wheels program and was a faithful parishioner at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church.

It was at St. Andrew’s that Kay became acquainted with the Rev. Linda Park, who remembered facing some challenges of her own when entering the pulpit in Lindsay. “Kay knew what it felt like to be a woman in a male-dominated vocation,” Park said at Kay’s funeral service. “I remember Kay reminding me to be strong and to carry on. It was good advice.”