Audrey Wheeler Hawkins

In Loving Memory of Audrey Wheeler Hawkins

Sunrise: February 1, 1947
Sunset: February 27, 2024

Visitation - 9:30 a.m.
Celebration of Life - 11:00 a.m.

Friday, March 22, 2024

Shiloh Baptist Church
1500 Ninth Street NW
Washington, DC 20001

Interment: Mt Olivet Cemetery

Audrey Mae Wheeler Hawkins was born in Washington, DC on February 1, 1947 to the late Rev. Wesley Corneilous Wheeler, Sr. and Viola J. Taylor. She was the seventh of their eight children and the youngest daughter. In addition to her parents, Audrey was preceded in death by her sister Lillian Taylor Johnson, and brothers Lesley and Roscoe Wheeler. 

Audrey was raised in the Eastern Market neighborhood of Capitol Hill and educated in the District of Columbia Public Schools (“DCPS”). She was baptized at Vermont Avenue Baptist Church, where her father served as an Associate Minister. She also attended the Metropolitan Baptist Church and the historic Shiloh Baptist Church of Washington, DC. 

Audrey received degrees in English and Education from Howard University in 1970 and 1972 and was an educator for almost 40 years. She taught Reading, English, Language Arts, Public Speaking, and Drama in Ypsilanti MI, DCPS, and in the Prince George’s County Public Schools until her retirement in 2010. She taught at various schools on the middle and high school level in DCPS: Margaret Washington Vocational HS, Spingarn SHS, Friendship Educational Center, Jefferson JHS, and Eastern Senior High School, the Pride of Capitol Hill. She also worked as the Language Arts Content Specialist for DCPS from 1998 – 2002. 

She was proud to have her students from DCPS to compete and win various oratorial contests and theatrical festivals throughout the city, most notably at the Folger Shakespeare Library in the 1980s and 90s. Other significant career highlights and professional collaborations include her work with the U.S. Holocaust Museum, the DC Area Writing Project, The Black Stallion Literacy Project, and the DC Regional Scripps Spelling Bee. Her other professional and community associations include Phi Delta Kappa International, the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), and the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD). She was initiated into the Washington DC Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. in 1990 and served on the board of the Metropolitan Delta Adult Literacy Council. 

Audrey married William Anthony (Tony) Hawkins, Jr., in November 1972, and to that union was born three children: Ayanna, Keita, and Okera. In recent years the family welcomed son-in-law Richard Crespo, and daughters-in-law Kelly Henderson Hawkins, and Candice Evie Ortiz-Hawkins. She was also blessed with six grandchildren: Nasya, Sameina, Zuri, Osei, Onyx, and Adiel.  

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