HGTV’s Mina Starsiak Hawk Pays Touching Tribute to Her Late Sister-in-Law

Martin Holmes January 19, 2026, 9:27 am

Mina Starsiak Hawk and sister in law — Mina Starsiak Hawk Instagram

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Mina Starsiak Hawk and her husband, Steve Hawk, paid tribute on social media to Steve’s late sister, Stefanie Hawk, on what would have been her 37th birthday.
Stefanie passed away unexpectedly in March 2020 due to ethanol poisoning, a loss that deeply affected both Mina and Steve.
Mina has honored Stefanie’s memory in personal reflections, podcast discussions, and an emotional episode of the HGTV spinoff series Good Bones: New Beginnings.

HGTV stars Mina Starsiak Hawk and her husband, Steve Hawk, have paid tribute to Steve’s late sister, Stefanie Hawk, who would have celebrated her 37th birthday on January 16.

Taking to Instagram on Saturday (January 17), Steve shared a throwback photo of his sister posing for the camera alongside a then-pregnant Mina. “Yesterday my baby sister would have turned 37,” he wrote in the caption. “I made conscience decision to take a moment of gratitude for her love while she was with us and I moved on.”

“I can’t let those things eat at me any longer,” Steve continued. “So I chose today to post this picture. It’s my favorite picture of her. NOTE: when she was a baby she was a fussy sleeper and I would sing her this song and would immediately stop crying, smile, and eventually doze off to sleep. IF you happen to have a Vodka Tonic this evening (I don’t condone) pour a little out for her. She’d like that. Haha.”

Mina also paid tribute in the comments, saying of the pic, “It’s one of my favorites too 💕 But I’m glad to have so many of her smiling and happy that it’s hard to choose from.”

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A post shared by Steve Hawk (@srhawk2003)

The Good Bones star previously shared the same photo in a March 2020 post when she first announced Stefanie’s passing.

“There’s no easy way to share this. Yesterday we unexpectedly lost my sister, Stefanie Hawk,” Mina wrote at the time, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “She was such a bright light in all of our lives for such a long time. There is nothing to say that makes it easier or better, especially in this time where our access to loved ones and friends is so limited.”

According to EntertainmentNow, Mina later revealed on an August 2023 episode of her Mina AF podcast that Stefanie died as a result of ethanol poisoning.

Mina Starsiak Hawk Talks 'Good Bones' and What She Doesn't Miss About the Show

“There were so many bottles. Just seeing how the last however long of her life had been was so incredibly sad,” the HGTV star explained. “And then the guilt with not being able to do something about it, like, ‘Well, we should’ve gone to her house sooner. We should have made her go to rehab. We should’ve made her move in with us.’ But nobody knew.”

She also touched on Stefanie’s passing in an emotional episode of Good Bones: New Beginnings, the three-episode spinoff series which aired in August 2024.

While looking at family photos during a visit to her former store, the Two Chicks District Co. in Indianapolis, Mina revealed she’d been working there the day she learned her sister-in-law had died.

“When I got the call that Stef, Steve’s little sister, had passed away, I was there, working at the store,” she said while tearing up. “And when the store was done, and we did the big reveal… Stef wasn’t there.”