Area auto dealership founder, chairman dies at 85

Despite making millions in automotive sales, Dwayne Hawkins, much to the surprise of top officials around him, never flew anywhere first class.

“He’d fly coach,” Crown Automotive President and COO Jim Myers says, “when a lot of people like him could fly on their own planes.”

That humility, mixed with a folksy, southern gentleman style, was a hallmark of Hawkins’ life. The founder of St. Petersburg-based Crown Automotive Group, Hawkins died Christmas Eve from natural causes. He was 85.

"What a great dad, friend and mentor he was to me,” his son Kevin Hawkins says in a statement. The younger Hawkins will succeed his dad as principal dealer and chairman of Crown Automotive, which comprises 22 dealerships in three states, employing more than 1,100 people. “His loss to the Crown family is immense. Dwayne Hawkins was an inspirational and visionary leader, a dedicated and passionate giver and a truly remarkable human being. He will be sorely missed.”