A good friend of mine, Harry Hardy, passed away this evening in Helena, Montana after his third bout with cancer. I have known the Hardy family since the late 70's and have shared many wonderful times with them over the years. He was a throat cancer survivor from the mid '70's and was a pretty tough old bird.
Harry was a musician, a band director, and a wood craftsman. He enjoyed life and pursued his many interests with great zeal. He was a big fan of dixieland jazz and played in a few bands in Montana and did some touring also. One of his claims to fame was being an uncredited actor in the Jimmy Stewart movie, "The Glenn Miller Story". Harry was directing the military band (I believe on an airstrip) when Jimmy (Glenn in the movie) pushed him out of the way and took over directing. Harry was in a military band in his young years as he was a quite talented low brass player. Harry many times called the movie, and I quote, "The Glenn Miller Story starring Harry G. Hardy and co-starring Jimmy Stewart."
Here is a picture of Harry from the 1978 Capital High Yearbook from one of the schools where he taught. I found this picture on their "Class of '78" website where many mentioned Mr. Hardy as their favorite teacher.
Harry is survived by his wife, Molly, his children Kathy and David, 2 brothers and a sister, and many nephews, nieces, grand-nephews and grand-nieces.
You can find his obituary and other comments on this link: Helena Independent Record - Life Story of Harry G. Hardy.
Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and may your perpetual light shine upon him. May he rest in peace, amen.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Harry G. Hardy - in memoriam.
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3 comments:
Thank you so much for the "tribute" to Dad, John...how very kind of you!!
Mom was VERY pleased and so was I.
Again, speaking how very good you are....in volumes...thanks again.
For me, most high school teachers were unreal creatures, existing only between the opening bell and the final class of the day, whose job was to assign us annoying and interminable tasks.
Harry Hardy was one of the few who transcended that barrier of "other", and who came across as a real person. He had a great sense of humor and while he pretended to take himself seriously (the G in H. G. Hardy, he told us, stood for Glorious), what he really took seriously was music.
His love of music was visible in all forms: classic, jazz, and popular, and we weren't immune from seeing his frustration when we didn't do justice to a piece. Any anger he showed, however, wasn't personal, and he treated his students with respect. He didn't make us follow rules for their own sake, but dealt with us as individuals and that's how we learned to see him as more than "just" a teacher, because he led by example, not by dictum.
I feel privileged to have studied under him in high school and played beside him in the city band. I'll remember him as a fine musician from hearing him play Dixieland, and as a wonderful teacher. I'm sorry he's gone.
John,
What a great tribute.
Drop me an email...I'd love to catch up and find out whats going on with you.
Jon
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