Page 8 - Florida Sentinel 3-10-20

Local
Founder Of Tampa Hurricanes Passes After Brief Illness
Latrece “Tracie” Dawkins passed away last Wednesday after a brief ill- ness. She was 54 years old.
“Tracie,” as she was most often called, was born in De- cember 1965 to Vera Mae Hobley, an Ybor City cigar roller, and James “Honey” Lester. Her grandmother and mother had made the move from Quincy, Florida to Tampa in search of better opportuni- ties.
She grew up in Tampa and eventually went to Hillsbor- ough High School. There, she would join the JROTC and have dreams of joining the military. That dream was put on hold when she had her first child, a daughter, in 1984, Vera Brown. Wanting to stay close to her family and new daughter, she attended Erwin Technical School to learn typing and secretarial work. This landed her a series
of jobs in secretarial work until she found her first claims pro- cessing position. She would go on to a stellar career in med- ical claims processing.
While building her career, she would marry Eddie Lee Dawkins and have two more children, boys: Eddie Lee Dawkins, Jr., born in 1991, and Alexander Dawkins, born in 1993.
Early on, “the boys” as they were called, were signed up for little league flag football. After both showing promise on the field, Tracie kept the boys active and occupied on various football teams. They eventu- ally found a home and Tracie became a team mom and even- tually would go on to become the Commissioner of the Copeland Park Saints. Unfor- tunately, the family would see struggle when she was diag- nosed with Congestive Heart Failure in 1998 and her mar-
LATRECE ‘TRACIE’ DAWKINS
riage ended. Undaunted, she focused on her health and managed her disease success- fully for 20 years.
Now a single mother, Tra- cie began the work of support- ing a family: a daughter at the University of Florida, and two young sons. In 2006, her mid- dle son, E-Jay, began to get tired and experience symp- toms related to a congenital lung disease. Tragically, E-Jay lost his battle and passed in 2006.
After burying a son, Tra- cie was determined to build something in his honor. This is when the Tampa Hurricanes was born, a powerhouse little league organization in Tampa Bay.
Tracie was a woman with a vision. Her love for football and her desire to make an im- pact in the community is when her youth football legacy began.
The vision began with Copeland Park Saints in the Unity League. In 2011, the or- ganization changed to Tampa Hurricanes and that’s when the Family ’Canes Nation started! Tampa Hurricanes was in the MFFCC league until 2018, then changed to FL Elite Football and Cheer League.
During that time until her last breath she adored the football world. Tracie domi- nated as a president and she was the face and leader of not only a local and state power- house, but also a national pow- erhouse of A5L (all five levels of little league football) of what is perceived to be an "all men"
sport.
The organization as a
whole, Football and Cheer, has won over 100 trophies such as: 1st place winners, State cham- pionships, National champi- onship, Grand Champion for cheer for highest overall score of all categories, District champs, Heisman winners, 8 season sweeps out of a 10 game schedule; several squads have gone all season never scored on and A5L have won a Superbowl.
She would reach the pinna- cle of her youth football com- munity work by being inducted into the Florida Elite Hall of Fame in 2019.
Tracie will be remem- bered for all the things she did off the field as well. She made sure many of her players and parents never went without. Whether it was picking up and dropping off kids that needed rides; making sure no player went hungry or sponsoring kids from struggling families. Tracie did everything in her power to ensure her “babies” had a home away from home. As she is laid to rest, her exem- plary work as both a mother and community builder will be missed.
Aikens Funeral Home is handling arrangements for the family.
PAGE 8 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2020