David Holbrook Hawes

David Holbrook Hawes, 85 of Fort Collins, Colorado died February 22, 2024.

Dave was born April 9, 1938, in Hanover, New Jersey. He remembered spending lots of time outdoors during his childhood hunting and trapping in the woods and fishing and ice-skating on the Whippany River. He was always fascinated with cars. At the age of 12, Dave acquired his first, a Ford Model T that was long stuck deep in the woods, from a farmer who said he could have it if he could get it out of the mud. Dave winched the car out and after a while was able to get it running and drove it home.

Dave's mother Helen Hawes suffered from tuberculosis and twice spent two years in a sanitorium. During those periods, Dave was raised by a variety of family members.

Following his mother's second recovery in 1952, Dave and his mother moved to Fort Collins for the clean, dry air. Though he was more interested in cars than school, he graduated from Fort Collins High School in 1956. He started college at Colorado State University but was soon drafted by the Army, serving most of his time in California. In 1964, he graduated from CSU with a business degree in construction management. Later that year he was married to Barbara Babcock in the First Church of Hanover in New Jersey.

Dave and Barbara bought their first home on Grant Street in Fort Collins and had two sons. They started a business together, which was first known as Hawes Construction and later became High County Pools, building mostly commercial swimming pools throughout the West and even one in Nome, Alaska. They sold the successful business in 1999 and retired.

Throughout his life, Dave was an antique automobile aficionado. One of his first cars, a 1928 Ford Model A Roadster pickup, he hot-rodded and drove for years, including on an epic road trip in the early 1960s from New Jersey to Colorado and southern California, up the coast to Vancouver, across Canada, down through Maine and back to New Jersey. He owned several 1920s and 1930s Fords and 1940s Lincolns. He relished spending time with his car buddies, going to breakfast with them every Saturday and traveling the country with them going to car shows, auctions, and swap meets.

He was a deeply loving family man and made a point to visit family throughout the country during his travels. He made sure his sons grew up playing sports and riding motorcycles and driving go-karts, tractors, and cars – he often joined in. In 1979, Dave began the tradition of visiting Maine every summer with his family at the lake cottage his grandparents William and Eldena Hawes purchased in 1949. He didn't miss a single summer there until the summer of 2022 when he began to suffer the effects of dementia.

Dave was preceded in death by his grandparents William and Eldena Hawes; also by his grandparents Horace and Caro Hopping, and uncle and aunt Clifford and Elizabeth Morrow who raised him during the years his mother was in the sanitorium. He was also preceded in death by his mother Helen Hawes and her husband George "Cleve" Cleveland, father George Hawes, brother George Hawes Jr., and son Steven Hawes.

Dave is survived by his wife Barbara Hawes of Fort Collins, son and daughter-in-law Rem and Tina Hawes and their daughters Morgan and Xan Hawes of Phoenix; daughter-in-law Shawna Hawes and her daughters Nora and Maile Hawes of Fort Collins; brother-in-law and his wife Norman and Sally Babcock of Meadville, Pennsylvania, and nieces Lori and Holly, and nephew Ben Babcock; cousin Rob and Chris Hawes; cousin Bill Hawes; cousin Maile and Dan Jones; cousin Dena Hawes; cousin Jay and Claudia Hawes; and cousin Helene and Wayne Libby.

The family will hold a private remembrance in Dave's honor. Memorial contributions can be made in Dave's name to the Poudre High School Athletic Department in Fort Collins, where his son Steve coached basketball for 20 years. Friends may send condolences to the family in care of Dave Hawes at Goes Funeral Care, 3665 Canal Drive, Suite E, Fort Collins, CO 80524, or at www.goesfuneralcare.com .