Jean Hawley spent more than six decades advocating for families, children and community from Camp Lejeune to Surf City, and at 95 she is still finding ways to serve.
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Jean Hawley held a supervisory position at AT&T in Arlington, Virginia, in the 1960s, resolving telephone complaints. One day, another supervisor contacted her and said, “I’ve got this Marine on a call here, and he won’t shut up.”
When Hawley accepted the connection, the first thing the Marine said was, “How tall are you?”
The question stunned her, but with good humor she answered, “Five foot two and eyes of blue.”
She thought nothing of the call at the time. “I laughed it off because I could tell he had had a few drinks.”
But the next day that Marine, helicopter pilot Capt. Richard Hawley, showed up at her job and asked her to go out that night. Thus started a marriage lasting 52 years.
The couple, along with Jean’s three sons from her previous marriage, moved to Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in 1962, where she quickly became recognized for her volunteer service. Helping people has always been her mission in life, and now, at 95, despite health issues, she has no plans to stop.
“I am very committed to community volunteer work, family and God,” she says.
Precise, neat and orderly, the petite nonagenarian listens without interrupting, occasionally bending her head slightly, indicating some difficulty hearing.
Her back is erect, her ankles crossed. Her hands rest in her lap, never touching her perfectly coiffed white hair or the pearls and gold chain at her neck and wrists.
Jean says she needed an outlet for her high energy, so for seven years she volunteered with the Camp Lejeune Navy and Marine Corps Relief Society. Since Richard was an officer — ultimately a major — she could not be an employee, but when he retired in 1970, she became the Marine Corps Relief Society’s executive director. Her focus centered on helping young couples.
“We had the highest infant mortality rate in North Carolina, a high number of miscarriages and a high rate of disabilities in children,” she says.
Only later did she understand the cause.
“There were burn pits all over the base, but we didn’t know about the [poisoned] water,” she says.
Studies have since confirmed that water at Camp Lejeune was contaminated with hazardous waste from about 1953 to 1985, linking it to cancers and other diseases.
“We had no health issues during our time on the base,” Jean says of her family. “We felt fine.”
During this time, Jean planned to finish her college education. After taking courses in pre-business administration at UNC Wilmington, she returned to earn a bachelor’s degree in sociology and social work.
“I got turned on to social work and helping people when I was with the relief society,” she says.
She later enrolled at East Carolina University, earning a master’s degree in public administration with a concentration in community health.
Jean’s reputation for helping others spread, and she was offered the position of district administrator for the 4th Judicial District in the newly established Guardian ad Litem program in 1983. The program advocates for abused and neglected children.
“They have the same standing in court as parents and the Department of Social Services,” Jean says. “When you see a child go to a forever home and know they are going to be safe, you’ve done your job.”
Jean stayed in the role for 20 years, retiring at age 75.
Photo by JoAnn Mathews
Her service earned numerous honors, including the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, presented by the governor of North Carolina, and the 1998 Community Woman of the Year award from the Jaycees. She also served on the Onslow County Hospital Authority board, the Onslow County Department of Social Services board and as Onslow County United Way president from 1982 to 1984.
She is especially proud of founding a thrift store at Faith Harbor United Methodist Church in Surf City, with all profits benefiting local charities. A plaque from the church and a framed letter from the city are among her many awards, which her granddaughters insist on organizing into a “Life Wall” in her office.
It wasn’t all work. Topsail Island was a favorite retreat, and the Hawleys eventually bought a cottage in Surf City.
“We were boating and beach people,” Jean says. “Richard loved my sons, and they loved him. He took them to Quantico, fishing, boating, swimming. My mother told me, ‘He’s dating the boys. You should marry him.’”
Jean had not planned on remarrying after her divorce, but she loved Richard. Her son Bill Pearson, now 77, is a retired chemist. Son Bob Hawley, who changed his last name in junior high, was a businessman, and son Dan Pearson was an exploration geologist. Bob passed away from Lou Gehrig’s disease and Dan from brain cancer, both in 2022. Richard died in 2013 from illnesses linked to Agent Orange.
Jean was born in Charleston, West Virginia, and recalls coming home from school unable to fit her first name, Gwendolyn, onto the one-inch strip of paper her teacher provided.
“Your middle name is short,” her mother told her. “Can you fit Jean on that paper?”
She has been Jean ever since.
Photo by JoAnn Mathews
In October 2025, Jean moved to Leland to be closer to medical care. She now receives blood transfusions every 20 days at Novant Health Zimmer Cancer Institute in Wilmington. Doctors diagnosed anemia three years ago and later confirmed myelodysplastic syndrome, or MDS, linked to her years at Camp Lejeune.
For now, she is exploring volunteer opportunities in Brunswick County and spending time on her love of cooking.
“My son says my lasagna is better than any restaurant,” she says.
Jean’s commitment to family fills her new home, with photos of children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren lining shelves and walls. A photo album rests on her glass-top brass table.
When asked what she hopes for the future, she answers without hesitation.
“I’ll find something that will use up my time,” she says. “When the good Lord’s ready for me, I’m more than ready to go. I have a strong faith and belief in that. That’s what holds me together.”
