William Marvin Hardy, Jr.

Mr. William Marvin Hardy, Jr., age 96, of 181 Lake Forest Drive, Elberton, Georgia, died on Wednesday, November 24, 2010. He was born on August 14, 1914, in Molena, Georgia, to the late William Marvin Hardy, Sr. and the late Annie Kate Hawkes Hardy. He was preceded in death by his wife of 66 years, Marguerite Pool Hardy, by his sister, Hazel Hardy Fowler, and by his brother Sutton Laban Hardy. He is survived by three sons: William Marvin Hardy, III (Pam) of Orlando, Florida; James Merriwether Hardy (Peen) of Leesburg, Florida; and Robert Hutchins Hardy (Karen) of Elberton, Georgia, eight grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren. Mr. Hardy is a graduate of Molena, Georgia, High School in 1931; of Emory at Oxford in 1933 where he was a member of Alpha Epsilon Upsilon scholastic honor society and Eta Sigma Psi leadership honor society; and of Emory College in 1935 where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He earned a master’s degree in education in 1940 from the University of Georgia. Mr. Hardy taught at Fitzgerald High School and Gordon Lee High School in Chicamauga. He was School Superintendent at Tignall, Georgia. He served from December 1942 through June 1949 as Superintendent of the Elberton City Schools. In 1949 he began operating the J. C. Pool Company in Elberton, a clothing business from which he retired in 1980. Since 1942 he was a faithful member of the Elberton First Baptist Church where he served as a deacon, Sunday School teacher and superintendent, and on various committees. Mr. Hardy was a dedicated volunteer with the Boy Scouts of America, serving as a Scoutmaster, Cub Master, and Explorer Post Advisor. He received the Silver Beaver Award, the highest honor the Northeast Georgia Council, B.S.A., can confer for volunteer service. He served as President of the Elberton Rotary Club, President of the Elbert County Chamber of Commerce, and as Chairman of the Elberton Housing Authority. He served as Mayor of Elberton from 1957 through 1959.He served as a member of the Elbert County School Board from 1964 through 1976 including serving as chair. In 2003, he received a Humanitarian Award from the Elbert County Chapter of the NAACP. In 2009, he received the Lifetime Service Award from the Elbert County Chamber of Commerce. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, November 26, 2010, at 11:00 a.m., at the Elberton First Baptist Church. Officiating will be Reverend Ken Whitfield and Reverend Gary Purvis. The family will receive friends on Friday, November 25, 2010, from 6-8p.m., at Hicks Funeral Home, 231 Heard Street, Elberton. Memorials in lieu of flowers may be made to the Elbert Memorial Hospital Foundation, 4 Medical Drive, Elberton, GA, 30635 or the Recreation Outreach Center of First Baptist Church, 132 Heard Street, Elberton, GA, 30635. Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.hicksfuneral.com. Hicks Funeral Home, Elberton, is serving the Hardy family.