Patricia Vyner Hawks

Patricia “Patsy” Vyner Hawks, a longtime resident of Alexandria, Virginia, and Bethany Beach, Delaware, died suddenly from a previously undisclosed illness early Monday morning, May 11, 2026. A native of Baltimore, Maryland, Patsy was born on May 1, 1944 to Dr. Harold L. Vyner, a psychiatrist practicing in Baltimore, and Ruth Taubman Vyner, the daughter of a prominent Baltimore businessman. After graduating from Milford Mill High School in Baltimore County, she studied history at the University of Rochester (Class of 1965). She then taught history in the Baltimore City Public School System for eight years, by which time she had developed what became of life-long interest in Asian studies and culture. In 1970 she participated in an Overseas Fellowship in Southeast Asia (Indonesia and Singapore) sponsored by Washington University, St. Louis, MO. She then went to graduate school, first as part of an M.L.A. Program in East and Southeast Asian Studies at Johns Hopkins University, then later at Indiana University (Bloomington), where she received an M.A. Degree in East Asian Studies, with a focus on Japanese and Japanese literature. Needing to return home to Baltimore before she could should finish her Ph.D. program, she was offered a speechwriting position in Richmond, Virginia by former Virginia Attorney General Andrew Miller, who in 1978 was running for the U.S. Senate. The candidate lost, but Patsy met the love of her life on that campaign, her husband of 43 years, Anthony “Andy” Wayne Hawks. With the campaign over, Patsy and Andy moved together to Alexandria (Andy’s hometown), where Patsy worked as an appropriations legislative assistant for then Senator Birch Bayh (D-IN) until he was defeated in the 1980 elections. After that she worked briefly at the Close Up Foundation in Arlington, Virginia, then in 1983 she joined a consulting firm, Technology Analysis Group, where she worked with both American and Japanese clients, setting up a nationwide series of Congressional workshops on the American-Japanese telecommunications trade. In 1985 she formed her own consulting firm, Capitol Techwatch Associates, which she maintained through the early 2000s. Patsy is survived by her husband, Andy; a daughter from a first marriage, Cassandra Smoot Holmes; her son, Mark Lawrence Hawks, and daughter Leslie Alyse “Aly” Hawks Gutierrez; Aly’s husband, Olver Javier Gutierrez; five grandchildren, Julian Kendell Holmes, Ariana Kendell Holmes, Jayden Anthony Whitaker, Jaxson Samuel Herrera, and Xavier Olver Gutierrez; two brothers-in-law, John “Jack” Kiger Hawks and Timothy Roderick Hawks; and a brother, Dr. Henry Lawrence Vyner. She was predeceased in 2014 by her sister, Lynne Vyner Shpak. In lieu of flowers donations can be made to Beth El Hebrew Congregation (https://www.bethelhebrew.org/) and the Reason Foundation (https://reason.org/).

Tributes

Patricia Vyner Hawks

May 1, 1944 - May 11, 2026