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Monday, July 12, 2010

Award-winning gospel singer Walter Hawkins Dies


RIPON, Calif.—Walter Hawkins, a Grammy Award-winning gospel singer, composer and pastor from Oakland has died.

Edwin Hawkins, his older brother, says Walter passed away July 11 after losing a battle with pancreatic cancer.

Born in Oakland, Hawkins studied for his divinity degree at the University of California at Berkeley, where he recorded his first album entitled "Do Your Best" in 1972.

The next year Hawkins became a pastor and founded the Love Center Church in Oakland.

Friend and family representative Bill Carpenter says Hawkins later recorded a series of albums, earning nine Grammy Award nominations for his work. His "The Lord's Prayer" won a Grammy in 1980.

Family members say Hawkins died at his home in Ripon, Calif. He was 61.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

Courtesy of Gospel Music Today

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