Obituaries - Edith Granger Hawkes

Newspaper clipping of Edith Granger Hawkes obituary

Edith Hawkes, Poetry Index Compiler Dies

Last rites will be held at 11 AM tomorrow in the George L. Klumpp Funeral Home for Mrs. Edith Granger Hawkes, 87, who first compiled Granger’s Index to Poetry, a standard library reference work.

Mrs. Hawkes died Tuesday in a hospital in Woodland, Yolo County. She made her home at 125 – 13th Street, West Sacramento.

Lived In Chicago

A native of Chicago, Ill., she compiled the reference volume while working in that city for the McClurg Publishing Company. The first edition, printed in 1904, was known as Granger’s Index to Poetry and Recitations.

The work has been continued in publication to the present time and was revised and enlarged in subsequent printings.

Mrs. Hawkes also was the author of some published poems which earned her membership in the League of American Penwomen. She was a member of the American Association of University Women and had belonged to the Tuesday Club.

Postmistress 18 Years

She came to California in April 1906, and resided in the Santa Rosa, Sonoma County area until 1942. While living in that vicinity she served for 18 years as postmistress of Fulton, Sonoma County.

She made her home in Sacramento from 1942 to 1950 when she moved to West Sacramento.

Surviving is her daughter, Eleanor Eggergluess of West Sacramento.

Cremation will be in the East Lawn Crematorium.

The Sacramento Bee, Sacramento, CA, 19 September 1957, Thursday, Page 4, clipping available on Newspapers.com

Edith Hawkes

Funeral services will be held in Sacramento today for Edith Granger Hawkes, postmaster of Fulton from 1920 to 1938, who died Tuesday.

She was a charter member of the Sonoma County League of American Penwomen, a member of the Santa Rosa chapter of the Association of American University Women and the Fulton Corona Club.

She moved to Sacramento in 1942 to reside with her surviving daughter, Eleanor Hawkes Eggersgluess.

Services will be held at the George L. Klumpp Funeral Parlor at 11 a.m.

From Vital Statistics - Hawkes

Hawkes—In Woodlawn, September 17, 1957. Edith Granger Hawkes, beloved mother of Eleanor Eggersgluess, aunt of Alan T. and Donald H Baum, cousin of Mrs. Ethel Hoffmann and Austin M. Munsell; a native of Illinois, aged 87 years. A member of the American Association of University Women, Tuesday Club and League of American Penwomen. Services 11 AM tomorrow (Friday) from the George L. Klumpp Chapel of Flowers, 808 O Street. Cremation East Lawn.

Obituary in the Smith Alumnae Quarterly, February 1958, vol. 49, no. 2, p. 127.

'91 Edith (Granger) Hawkes, Sept. 17 '57, in Woodland, Cal. A native of Chicago, she compiled for the McClurg Publishing Co. a standard library reference work known as Granger's Index to Poetry. This work has been continued to the present time. She was author of some published poems, which gave her membership in the League of American Penwomen. She was also a member of the A.A.U.W.

Below are images of Edith's final resting place in East Lawn Memorial Park in Sacramento, CA from Mike Chasar's blog post Finding Edith Granger. I hope to someday make this pilgrimage myself.

Edith Granger Hawkes niche in East Lawn Memorial Park, her plaque with "Edith Granger hawkes 1889-1957" is framed by a brass frame and has a small, empty brass vase.
Photo taken of a memorial wall with brass/gold toned plaques and a number of vases with flowers in them.
Edith Granger Hawkes cremation record for East Lawn. It is typed and includes a clipping of her death notice.

Hawkes, Edith Granger - East Lawn Record No. 40,807

  • Residence: 125 13th St., West Sacramento

  • Date of cremation: 9-23-57

  • Placed in niche 9-26-57

  • Eleanor H. Eggersgluess purchased Niche 3 Tr. 2 K-L Corridor & ... (info is covered by the death notice clipping).

  • Cause of death is left blank.

Screen shot of California Death Index for Edith.

Edith Granger Hawkes birth and death confirmed in the California Death Index.

Birth Date: 8 Oct 1869

Birth Place: Illinois

Death Date: 17 Sep 1957

Death Place: Yolo

Mother's Maiden Name: Munsell

Father's Surname: Granger

Source Information: Ancestry.com. California, U.S., Death Index, 1940-1997 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2000.

Original data: State of California. California Death Index, 1940-1997. Sacramento, CA, USA: State of California Department of Health Services, Center for Health Statistics.