Bill Hawkins was born in LaCrosse Wisconsin and graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1963. Between his two tours in Vietnam, while at the Advanced Infantry course at Fort Benning, Georgia, two academy classmates and teammates (Paul Stanley, football and Al Shine, track) and their wives led Bill and Anne to the Lord. With a constraint and calling for the ministry, he secured a masters degree from Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina. While studying there he was invited to Hallmark Baptist Church where Willard Ramsey and Henry Morris III, co-pastors, became his mentors. He was ordained in 1971 by Hallmark Baptist Church and has been a pastor there for over 35 years. He now shares the ministry with Willard Ramsey and Shaun Ramsey. He and his wife, Anne, have four grown children and nine grandchildren.