Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, May 22, 1995                   TAG: 9505230066
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

HAWTHORNE FUNERAL SERVICE SET TODAY

A memorial service will be today for Gene Hawthorne, a long-time supporter of sports in the Roanoke Valley.

Hawthorne died Saturday of lung cancer at age 65.

He was past president of the Shenandoah Club and Roanoke Country Club and helped organize and operate the Scott Robertson Memorial, one of the nation's top junior golf events.

Hawthorne, a 1950 VMI graduate, also helped revive hockey in the valley in the early 1970s. He was principle owner of the Roanoke Valley Rebels and served as commissioner of the Southern Hockey League.

Hawthrone was co-founder and president of Progressive Products Corporation. He is survived by his wife, Sandra Snead Hawthorne; a son and daughter-in-law, Paxton C. and Joyce Hawthorne of Roanoke; two daughters and sons-in-law, Marilee Hawthorne and John Creekmore of Roanoke and Karen Hawthorne and William K. Glascock of Harpers Ferry, W.Va.

The memorial service will be at 2 p.m. today at Second Presbyterian Church. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Roanoke Memorial Hospital Hospice Program, the American Cancer Society, or the Scott Robertson Memorial Golf Tournament care of Roanoke Country Club.