Nancy Ann (Federwitz) Hawkins

Nancy Ann Hawkins (Federwitz), age 72, of Combined Locks, WI, passed away peacefully at her home with family at her side on Sunday February 1st, 2026, after a long illness with Neuroendocrine Cancer.

Nancy was brought into this world on Wednesday, the 6th of May 1953, by Dorothy and Elmer Federwitz, in Fond Du Lac, WI. She joined her 4 older siblings at the Killsnake Creek family farm in Chilton, WI.

After graduating from Hilbert High School in May of 1971, she went on to study nursing at the Iowa Methodist School of Nursing, where she graduated in May of 1974. She began her career at Theda Clark Medical Center in Neenah, WI as a Staff- Charge Nurse in the ICU/CCU burn unit from 1974-1977. From there she went back to Des Moines at the Iowa Lutheran Hospital as a Staff Nurse in the ICU/CCU. In 1982 she came back to Wisconsin to stay and was the Critical Care Head Nurse at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Appleton, WI until 1991, at which point she took a position as a Critical Care Staff Nurse. In 2009 until 2015 she thrived in her role as an Acute Care Coordinator. After 33 years of service at St. Elizabeth Hospital, and 3 years before retirement, she was pushed out. She then spent 2 years at The Neuroscience Group in Neenah, WI as a Triage RN. She retired from nursing Aug. 1st, 2018.

In 1976 she met the love of her life, Donald Hawkins. They dated long distance for a year and were married on Oct 15th, 1977, in Hilbert, WI. Nancy & Don spent 3 yrs in Iowa as a young married couple until they went on to have twin babies, Matthew & Mychele Hawkins, born on Nov. 8th, 1980, in Des Moines, IA. In 1982 they moved to SE Appleton, WI where they stayed and built a home and a beautiful life. In 2001 they went on to build their forever home in Combined Locks, WI, where Nancy would eventually pass.

In June of 2009 she was diagnosed with Neuroendocrine Cancer. She was stable for 10 glorious years. Things got more aggressive in Jan. of 2019. In Aug. 2025 she had exhausted all of her medical options, things went downhill fast on Dec. 26th, 2025. She went on hospice Jan 13th, 2026, and was called home 19 days later on Feb 1st, 2026.

Nancy was preceded in death by her parents Dorothy (1995) and Elmer (2009) Federwitz, Nephews Dustin Dohr and Michael Federwitz and Sister-in-Law Ginny Federwitz. She was further preceded in death by her In-Laws, Dean & Grace Hawkins, Brother-in Laws Danny Hawkins and Ronny Hawkins, Sister-in Laws Linda Hawkins, Trudy Delk, and Becky Shaffer, and several nieces and nephews from the Hawkins side.

She is survived by her loving husband of 48 years, Donald Hawkins, her children Matthew and Mychele both of Appleton, WI. Her Grandson Kaeyn Hawkins. Her sisters: Sheryl (Doug) Dohr of Pahrump NV and Sandra (Gary) Mirsberger of Hilbert. Her brothers: DuWayne Federwitz of Clintonville, Don (Jane) Federwitz of Henderson NV, Eugene Federwitz of Chilton, and Larry (Sandy) Federwitz of Phoenix AZ. She is further survived by Don’s sister Judy Taylor and multiple nieces and nephews of Don’s.

Nancy enjoyed gardening, baking, reading, church activities and spending time with family and friends. She absolutely adored her only grandchild, Kaeyn. And she loved her special grand puppies, Brewer, Cupcake and Eddie. She was a devoted Lutheran and a truly wonderful wife, mother, g -ma, sister, aunt, neighbor and friend.

The funeral service for Nancy will be held on Saturday, February 7, 2026 at 11:00 a.m. at Bethany Lutheran Church, 124 W. 10th  St., Kaukauna. A time of visitation will be held on Friday, February 6, 2026 from 4:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. at the Verkuilen Van Deurzen Family Funeral Home, 2401 Fieldcrest Dr., Kaukauna followed by The Nurse Honor Guard doing a short service and on Saturday morning from 9:00 a.m. until the time of the service at the church. For online condolences and a full obituary please visit www.verkuilenfh.com.

The family would like to extend their heartfelt appreciation to Moments Hospice for taking such good care of her during her final days. Her sister Sheryl showed us incredible amount of love and support during the dark days of January. As did Sandy and Niece Lori Zahn. Special thanks to Julia Stoffel, NP her palliative care nurse, and Dr. Shannon Schmidt her Oncologist.

In lieu of flowers please consider donating to the following organizations that were close to her heart:

Neuroendocrine Tumor Research Organization https://netrf.org

Bethany Lutheran Church https://www.bethanykaukauna.org

Saving Paws Animal Rescue https://savingpaws.com

Myasthenia Gravis Hope Foundation https://mghope.org