Jeannine (Hawkins) Kaplinski

Jeannine Kaplinski, 77, passed on June 09, 2021, surrounded by loved ones.

Jeannine was born May 29, 1944 to Donald and Berta Lee (Baker) Hawkins in Los Angeles, CA. She lived the first part of her life in the Hawthorne and Westchester areas until she made the big move to Chicago where she met husband James on a skiing trip.  They were married in 1971 and adopted two sons, Christopher John and Eric Scott.  She enjoyed coaching and coordinating soccer for her boys and enjoyed watching Christopher play football.  Jeannine was grandmother to Isabella M, Arianna R (Christopher), Beckett Noah, and Berkley Grace (Eric and wife Kara), and Great Grandmother to Kenneth John (Isabella).  She is survived by her brother, Wesley, his loving wife Bonnie, and her nephews Kyle and Matthew (Wesley & Bonnie).  Jeannine was loved by many that came across her path and was known as “mom” to all the neighborhood kids, especially Matty and Rhett. 

Jeannine was known as a strong yet loving person who was not afraid to tell you how it was.  She spent 20 years with ZF Industries in many roles, ending her career in production planning with ZF for some of the world's largest off-road equipment manufacturers.  She took no gruff in her male dominated world.

In the early 2000’s, she and James moved to the Gainesville area of Georgia.  They worked for a few more years, for ZF, until they were able to enjoy their retirement by traveling in their camper or a nice ride on their motorcycle.

Jeannine was very proud of her native American heritage and displayed the works of the American Indian throughout her home.

At this time no services are planned, a memorial will be planned to take place in Chicago in the near future.

Those wishing to send online condolences to the family may do so at littledavenport.com or posting something to Jeannine’s Facebook page.

At this time the family requests no flowers, be sent.  Feel free to make a donation or plant a tree in Jeannine’s name. 

Little & Davenport Funeral Home and Crematory, 355 Dawsonville Highway, SW, Gainesville, Georgia 30501 is in charge of arrangements.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Jeannine (Hawkins) Kaplinski, please visit our floral store.