Kathryn May isn’t sure if she’s related to famed jazz saxophonist and St. Joseph native son Coleman Hawkins. She just remembers that as a young girl, whenever her father came to St. Joseph from Plattsburg, Mo., he’d always take some of his home-grown vegetables to somebody named “Coleman” who lived on 17th Street.

“Well, Coleman, to me, I’m figuring that’s probably the last name of some people. I never figured it’s the first name of anybody,’” Mrs. May said.

Mrs. May grew up Kathryn Burnside in the little town of Mecca near Plattsburg. Her grandmother, her father’s mother, was named Doshia Hawkins.

Besides being a good vegetable gardener, her dad, Roland Burnside, was also a pretty good musician.

“Dad used to play a guitar, but it wasn’t electric. He’d play country western ’cause he was around people that played country western,” Mrs. May said.

He also played harmonica and comb. The comb was a long-tooth job that Mr. Burnside put wax paper on and blew to make music.

“We just thought, ‘Oh my,’ and said, ‘Don’t go nowhere playing that or they’d laugh at you, the kids would,’” she said.

But whenever Mr. Burnside had a bounty from his garden, he’d always share it with his friends and relatives in Mecca and St. Joseph. Before he’d come to St. Joseph, he’d call somebody and ask if Coleman was in town. Sometimes he’d ask his cousin Leo Dale when he dropped his daughter off at her Aunt Mary and Aunt Jessie Wilkerson’s house in St. Joseph before making his vegetable delivery rounds. Mr. Dale always seemed to know “Coleman’s” whereabouts.

“He’d holler upstairs and ask Leo did he know whether Coleman was in or not, and Leo would say, ‘Yes, matter of fact, I saw him at such and such a place,’” Mrs. May said.

Mrs. May didn’t think too much about the connection between her family and Coleman Hawkins until the News-Press recently wrote about him.

The June 20 editorial, which sourced the book “The Song of the Hawk: The Life and Recordings of Coleman Hawkins” by John Chilton, said “Coleman Hawkins was born Nov. 21, 1904, in the family home at 1713 Angelique St.” The editorial also said that his parents “were born in St. Joseph and Plattsburg.”

According to the book, Coleman Hawkins’ father, William, was born in St. Joseph. It was his mother, Cordelia, who was born in Plattsburg. Cordelia named her son Coleman, which was her maiden name.

Today, Wilbur Jr. — the son of Mrs. May and her husband, Wilbur Sr. — is a drummer with the popular St. Joseph R&B group Page 2. Wilbur Jr. isn’t sure if he is a descendant of Coleman Hawkins. He always thought his musical ability came from his dad’s father, Russell, a mandolin player.

“I don’t know if we really are or not,” Wilbur Jr. said. “Guess we’ve got to do some research and find out.”

Alonzo Weston can be reached at alonzow@npgco.com.