Eileen Helen Hawes

Eileen Helen O’Neal Hawes went to heaven to see Jesus on Wednesday, the 30th of August 2023. She was 90 years old.

Eileen was the first child born to Leo and Ella (Nestle) O’Neal in Bliss, Michigan, on June 1, 1933. She had one brother and two sisters. She was born into a musical family that loved to play and sing. She attended Bliss church from an early age. As a student, she attended West Bliss School, Levering School, Pellston, and Pontiac Central High School. Although she didn’t graduate with her class, she got her diploma years later.

She married Francis (Frank) Hawes in 1952 and had four daughters. She worked on getting a nursing degree at Henry Ford Hospital but could not finish the program because of her husband's health. In 1967, Eileen moved with her husband and four girls back to Bliss, where she worked nights for years as a CNA at local nursing homes and Cheboygan Hospital.

She was a Christ follower and raised her girls in the Bliss Missionary Church by living an exemplary Christian life. She often had music jams with family/ friends playing guitars and accordions, as she played piano, sometimes the harmonica and everyone sang.

In the 1970s, Eileen and Frank moved to Florida for a few years and then lived in Arizona. However, Eileen could never stay too far from her children and grandchildren, so they made frequent trips back to Michigan.

In the early 1980s, Eileen moved to Colorado with Frank and lived there till 2002, when they moved to Montana. By 2016, all 4 of her girls lived within 4 hours of her. She lost her husband, Frank, in 2018.

In 2020, she and her eldest daughter and grandkids moved back to Bliss and lived on the property where she was born and close to her brother and two sisters.

Eileen’s biggest passions were God, her family, and music. She often played for church services through the years, wherever she attended, and played the piano & sang with her daughters often. Until the last week of her life, she was playing the piano.

She was feisty, quick-tempered, and stubborn at times but very resilient. Although she started life with bad health, she survived and lived a whole life. She was a prayer warrior and was often seen at her bedside praying for family and friends.

She is survived by her daughters, Coleen Shepherd, Dianne Weaver, Denise (John) Summers, and Marti (Randy) Baird and her siblings Ralph (Barb) O’Neal, Leona (Phil) Byard, and Cathy (Larry) Schiller, 16 grandchildren, 37 great-grandchildren, and 4 great-great-grandchildren plus many wonderful nieces and nephews. She loved her family, and she treasured the times spent with each of them.

We miss her dearly already but look forward to a reunion in Heaven. Anyone wanting to donate in Eileen’s honor can give to Bliss Missionary Church, the church she loved all her life.

 In celebration of Eileen’s life, a gathering of family and friends will be held on Thursday, September 7th at the Bliss Missionary Church at 10AM. A funeral service will follow at 11 AM.

The burial will take place at the Bliss Township Cemetery.

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