The De Smet Jesuit Hall of Fame is set to welcome three new inductees, including longtime teacher and coach Mr. Frank Hawkey, at the Hall of Fame dinner in the cafeteria on Sept. 25.

He will be inducted alongside Fr. Michael Garazini and Mr. Michael Grewe ‘86. 

Fr. Garazini taught here then went on to serve as President of Loyola-Chicago University and currently serving as President of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities.

Mr. Grewe ‘86 is an alumni who has stayed very involved in our school through donations and care of many families.

Hawkey, who passed away in 2023, is remembered by colleagues, former students, and family for his humility and dedication to serving our school. 

“We were super excited,” Frank’s son and current teacher, John Hawkey ‘96, said. “It’s something we have been hoping for forever and something we wish would have happened before he passed so he could enjoy it.”

Hawkey taught here from 1973-2014, serving as the Math department chair and teacher while also serving as the longtime head coach of football, golf, and even track. He led the school to a state title in golf and coached the sophomore football team for years.

“He seemed to do everything here,” Math teacher Mark DeGreeff said. “He didn’t mind doing the extra stuff, and he didn’t ask for anything in return.”

In the classroom, he was known to have his door open early in the morning or after school to give extra help to his students. He was always more comfortable teaching the kids who were challenged in math.

“He had a degree to be a principal and all that kind of stuff, but he never wanted any of that,” Mr. John Hawkey said. “He wanted to be present in the classroom and on the field with the boys and help teachers in every way he could.”

As the math department chair, he mentored many young teachers, including Mr. DeGreeff, who emphasizes his patience and dedication to helping the school.

“He kind of took me under his wing,” DeGreeff said. “He showed me how to not only coach, but also prepared me to take over as the head coach when he retired.”

Mr. Frank Hawkey invested more of his time into the school when he went back to school to learn technology and web design. He ended up being a big part of building our early website for the school.

“It just showed how much he was able to care about others and invest in others,” Mr. John Hawkey said. “He was always ahead of his time with it.”

Mr. Frank Hawkey’s induction into the Hall of Fame sets up the possibility of the first-ever father-son duo in the Hall of Fame. With both father and son dedicating their careers to our school, this would not be a surprise. But Mr. Hawkey is not worried about his future in the Hall of Fame; rather, he is focused on carrying on his Dad’s legacy one class at a time.

“Anything I do is because he did it first,” Hawkey said. “Our job now is to continue the mission. If I don’t, I feel like I’m letting him down.”