Carolyn S. Hanks

Carolyn Sparklin Hanks, a longtime Oxford resident and former secretary at the former Greensboro High School, died Sunday, December 30, 2007, at Corsica Hills Nursing Center, Centreville, MD. She was 86. Born July 15, 1921, she was the daughter of the late Captain Tom and Margaret Corkran Sparklin. For many years, she watched Oxford evolve from a small waterman’s village to one of Maryland’s premier retirement spots. In 1939, she and two other girls were hired to help transform an abandoned bank building into Oxford’s first public library, with an $8 monthly salary provided by the New Deal’s Works Progress Administration. When World War II arrived, she took shifts atop an Oxford building, comparing passing planes with aircraft silhouettes provide by civil defense authorities. The Oxford High School girl’s basketball team made Carolyn their center forward, a position that put her up against Cambridge High School stand-out and future Golden Girl, Bea Arthur. As an adult, she moved to Greensboro and married Luther Thomas Bennett. They had two children, Marcie and Tommy. Following Mr. Bennett’s death, she returned to Talbot County after marrying Douglas Hanks, Sr. He was an avid log canoe skipper and Carolyn made the regatta circuit with him up and down the Chesapeake Bay. While Doug skippered, Carolyn would take the wheel of a tender and follow him around the course. Breaks between races often found her in a support boat preparing hot lunches for more than 100 sailors. The two moved to Oxford in the 1980’s, returning both to their hometowns. In Oxford, Mrs. Hanks volunteered for the Ladies Auxiliary of the Oxford Volunteer Fire Company and at the Church of The Holy Trinity. She was also a member of the Red Hat Society. In 2003, Mrs. Hanks moved to the Londonderry retirement community in Easton and became a regular in the community’s social activities. She often joined a group of Oxford High Alums for lunch outings; the school disbanded in the late 1930’s. Douglas Hanks, Sr., died in 1992; and Tommy, Carolyn’s son, died in 1997. Her stepson, Douglas Hanks, Jr., died in 2003. Mrs. Hanks is survived by her daughter, Marcie Coughenour, and her husband, Jimmy; two grandchildren, Tommy Bennett and Lori Mitchell; and one great-granddaughter, Ashley Mitchell. In addition to her husbands, son and stepson, she was predeceased by a brother. She is also survived by a step-daughter, Suzanne Hanks; her stepson’s widow, Alexandra Deemer Hanks; three stepgrandsons, Douglas Hanks III, John Weitzel, and Alec Weitzel; and two step-great-grandchildren, Ryan and Rhys Weitzel. A graveside service will be held on Friday, January 4, 2008, at 10:15AM at Oxford Cemetery, Oxford, MD, followed by a memorial service at 11:00 AM at the Church of The Holy Trinity, Oxford. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Oxford Volunteer Fire Company Ladies Auxiliary, 300 Oxford Road, Oxford, MD 21654.