Community

New Cumberland Hall of Fame holds its 32nd-annual induction ceremony

‘

NEW CUMBERLAND -- The New Cumberland Hall of Fame, created by Rob Stanley as a Boy Scout project to earn his Eagle Scout award, singled out three individuals as part of its 32nd-annual event held Sunday afternoon at the New Cumberland Christian Church in New Cumberland.

The 2023 inductees were Dorothy Hawkes and the late Emily Fields with Robi Littell presented the Jack Harris Spirit of Scouting Award.

Rick Greenwood, Boy Scout Troop 38 Scoutmaster and chairman of the Hall of Fame Committee, gave an overview of the history of the hall of fame, a longstanding tradition of paying tribute to nominated citizens for their dedicated service to the community.

Mike Swartzmiller served as master of ceremonies and extended the welcome. Pastor Rick Tinsky offered the invocation and benediction.

A look at the honorees follows.

— Mary Dorothy (Jones) Hawkes graduated from New Cumberland High School and attended Steubenville Business College, where she completed the office management course. In 1959, she was hired at Weirton Steel Co. in the manifest/invoicing department where the invoices for all of the steel shipments were processed. During her 36 years at Weirton Steel she had several promotions and retired as a senior invoice clerk.

After retiring, Hawkes got more involved with the organizations that she belonged to by volunteering for more projects. Among them were the New Cumberland Young Woman's Club and the Woman's Club of New Cumberland, both of which are no longer active. Hawkes has served as president several times for both woman's clubs and was president of the Northern District of the West Virginia General Federation of Women's Clubs.

She holds membership in the New Cumberland Lions Club, of which she now serves as president, and is a member of the New Cumberland Hall of Fame committee. She volunteered to fill the vacancy of secretary at her church, St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Weirton, where she helps with the church's annual Peach Festival and Christmas Bazaar.

After retirement, an old friendship was renewed and in October 1999, she married George Hawkes from Toronto. He died in 2020 due to complications from Parkinson's.

She enjoys doing crafts and most recently made crocheted lap robes for a friend in the Tri-State Marines Corps Club Auxiliary that were given to veterans at Christmas.

— Emily Cullen Fields graduated from New Cumberland High School in 1943 and attended the Steubenville Business College, afterward working for a time at the Monongahela Power Co. office in Weirton.

On May 26, 1946, she married William R. Fields, also of New Cumberland. They were married for 67 years before his death in 2013.

They had three children -- Joy Marlene Fields, who died at birth; Diane Fields Bowers of New Cumberland and William Greg Fields of Houston. She has four grandsons.

When her children were still in grade school, Fields began taking classes at West Liberty State College, with the goal of becoming a teacher. She graduated from West Liberty in 1967 with a degree in elementary education, specializing in English and art. She began teaching third grade at New Cumberland Elementary School that fall.

She continued to teach third grade and then second grade, before retiring in June 1987.

Fields, who lived most of her adult life on Ridge Avenue, was an 80-year member of the New Cumberland Christian Church, a longtime member of the New Cumberland PTA as mother and teacher, and a leader of the New Cumberland Brownie troop and then the Campfire troop for several years during the 1960s. She enjoyed serving her community and her church.

Her primary hobbies were knitting and genealogy. She was a member of the Fort Steuben Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and was a former member of the W.Va. Alpha Tau Chapter of Alpha Delta Kappa Society for women educators. For a time, she was a member of the New Cumberland Young Woman's Club.

Fields was 91 when she died on March 10, 2017. The award was accepted on her behalf by her son.

— Robi Littell, the son of Jerry and Joyce Littell of New Manchester, resides with his wife, Tammy, who also is a flight paramedic. They have two sons, Ethan and Nolan.

Littell began his Scouting career in the Cub Scouts with Cub Pack 137 in New Manchester and later joined Boy Scout Troop 38 in New Cumberland led by Greenwood. He achieved the rank of Eagle Scout in 1993, just shy of his 18th birthday. Ultimately he became the scoutmaster of Troop 137 for several years.

As a 16-year-old, Littell joined the New Manchester Volunteer Fire Department as a junior member. A third-generation firefighter in the department, he remains an active member, helping to serve citizens of Hancock County for the past 30 years.

At 17, he was hired by the New Cumberland Ambulance Service as a dispatcher and began training to become an EMT. He passed his EMT test at age 18 and not long after began to run calls as a third person to learn the hands-on portion of being an EMT. For many years he volunteered to be on call for the citizens of New Cumberland and the surrounding areas, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

He also worked for the Weirton Area Ambulance and Rescue Squad and Canonsburg EMS. He became a full-time EMT with them. In 2002, he obtained his paramedic certification and continued to be on call 24 hours a day for a couple more years. He was a flight paramedic with Air Evac in East Liverpool, beginning in 2009 and working part time until the base closed. He transferred to Wetzel County Base and became full time there. Six years ago he was afforded the opportunity to work for HealthNet Aeromedical out of Moundsville, where he continues to fly out of today.

Individuals wanting to nominate a New Cumberland resident to be considered for 2024 may do so by sending a letter in their own words as to why the person should be considered to Rick Greenwood, P.O. Box 185, New Cumberland, WV, 26047.