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George F. Hardardt

January 16, 1926 - December 15, 1994

Hampton Union, Friday, December 16, 1994

George F. Hardardt
1926 - 1994

HAMPTON -- George F. Hardardt, 68, of 4 Sicard St. died Thursday. Dec. 15, 1994, in his home following a lengthy illness.

He was born Jan. 16, 1926, in Newark, N.J., the son of the late Joseph and Margaret M. (Schmidt) Hardardt.

He served 22½ years with the U.S. Marine Corps, retiring as a First Sergeant. He was a veteran of World War II, Korea and Vietnam.

Mr. Hardardt was the director of Public Works for the town of Hampton for 22 years, retiring in 1986. He also served as a selectman from 1988 until 1991. He was a call fireman with the Hampton Fire Department for many years and was a special officer with both the Hampton Police Department and the Rockingham Sheriffs Department.

He was a member of the Hamptons' American Legion Post No. 35 and a former member of the Hampton Jaycees.

He is survived by his wife, Helen (Gagnon) Hardardt of Hampton; three sons, George F. Hardardt Jr. of Lakeside, Calif., John J. Hardardt of Durango, Colo., and Forrest A. Hardardt of Hampton; five daughters, Judith A. Hardardt of Oldsmar, Fla., Anne C. Ceres of West Chester. Pa., Marie C. Messina of Hingham, Mass., Helen M. Ceres of Revere, Mass., and Lisa C. Phillips of Taunton. Mass.; 14 grandchildren: five great-grandchildren: two brothers, Robert Hardardt and Joseph Hardardt, both of New York; four sisters, Frances Hardardt, Margie Hardardt, Marie Stepanek and Dottie Libasci, all of New York; and several nieces and nephews.

There are no calling hours.

Funeral services will be held Sunday at 2 p.m. in the First Congregational Church, Winnacunnet Road, Hampton.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Seacoast Visiting Nurses Association, 29 Lafayette Road, North Hampton, NH 03862; or to Rockingham Hospice, 137 Epping Road, Exeter. NH 03833.

Arrangements, are by the Remick & Gendron Funeral Home, Hampton.

George F. Hardardt served the town for nearly thirty years as a Public Works Director, Acting Town Manager, Assistant Moderator, Selectman, Vice Chairman of the Municipal Budget Committee, Call Fire Fighter, Special Police Officer, and member of the USS HAMPTON Commissioning Committee. In addition to all of the official capacities, no one could count the number of unofficial capacities in which George served the people of Hampton. The cry of "ask George" not to mention the cry of "George will do it" has echoed through the town for many years and now will be missed by all those who have known and respected him.

George Hardardt established a standard of performance for both his official positions and the ones in which he substituted that will serve as an inspiration to all current employees of the Town of Hampton and as a yardstick for all future employees of the Town. He always shared his knowledge, experience and advice to all persons in a manner that left them believing their concerns were paramount to him.

Friends Bid Hardardt Farewell

Former Town Official Lauded At Memorial

By Susan Morse, RCN Staff

Hampton Union, Tuesday, December 20, 1994

HAMPTON -- At least a dozen of George Hardardt's friends stood up in the Congregational Church on Sunday to attest to the life of an exceptional man.

"There's a saying, 'Sometimes people come into our lives and quietly go. Others stay for awhile and lave footprints on our hearts and we're never the same,' and that was George Hardardt," said Richard Ballou.

"God has not promised skies always blue ... joy without sorrow, peace without pain," read Helen Ceres in a tribute to her father.

"George got his Christmas wish. He is now in the house of the Lord," daughter Lisa Philips said.

Hardardt, 68, died at his home last week following a lengthy illness.

He seemed to possess that rare gift: a man who knew he was lucky.

"His expression was, 'You don't know how lucky you are to live in the town of Hampton.' I know how lucky the town of Hampton was to have George there," Paul Long said.

Long, who met Hardardt 26 years as a rookie at the public works department, remembered Hardardt as a mentor. "I'm sure each one of us can recall an instance in which George touched our lives," he said.

Rev. Dwight Mexcur invited members of the congregation to say a few words.

George F. Hardardt -- Marine, public works director, community leader and family man -- was many things to many different people, his friends affirmed, as one by one they stood up to share memories.

One man who knew Hardardt for 40 years said he was the kind of man who always jumped in to help. "I never wanted George behind me at a fire," he joked.

"If George had one bad thing, it was he got too close to you. Word got out, "Let George do it," he said.

"I think whatever he did, he did it as the Marine," Selectman Arthur Moody said.

"I don't know about resting up in Heaven. The infrastructure (there) will never be the same," Selectman Mary-Louise Woolsey said.

Mexcur said Hardardt was a man who knew the town well and spoke up at town meetings.

A friend in the congregation joked that Hardardt once said at town meeting that the public had the right to be stupid.

"I wasn't going to say it," Mexcur said

Col. Paul Lessard and four Marines presented the flag to Hardardt's wife Helen.

"God Bless you, George, you will be missed," Mexcur said in closing.

Hampton Loses A Best Friend

George Hardardt Dead At 68

By Steve McGrath, RCN Staff

Hampton Union, Friday, December 16, 1994

HAMPTON -- Friends of George F. Hardardt yesterday remembered the longtime public works director as a devoted citizen and a trusted friend.

"He cared passionately about his country and his town and gave everything he had" to whatever he did, Selectman Mary-Louise Woolsey said yesterday afternoon. "It's a personal loss to me. We were lucky to have him."

Hardardt died yesterday at his home following a lengthy illness. He was 68. His funeral is Sunday.

"I considered him a close friend and a valued person that I could go to to talk about issues of the town with and get a valued, unbiased opinion." said Selectman Paul Powell. He was "one I respected, and one of the few," a "wealth of information" and "a great asset to the community," he said.

"I didn't know him very well, but I can tell you he will be sorely missed," Hunter Rieseberg said. "He was just a very important part of the community. Everybody here (at the Town Office) is just real saddened to hear" of his death.

Hardardt was public works director from 1964 to 1986, selectman from 1988 to 1991, a call firefighter from 1964 to 1981, and acting town manager on a number of occasions, according to Rieseberg. Hardardt served 22½ years with the U. S. Marine Corps, retiring as a first sergeant. He was a veteran of World War II, Korea and Vietnam.

But Hardardt's appeal transcended his titles and affiliations.

"To lose George was to lose a family member. It hurts that deep," said Public Works Director John Hangen, who took over the job after Hardardt. "He seemed to be everybody's brother, neighbor, family member and friend at the same time. He had a strength and honesty and commitment and ethical standard that is very rare in human beings. He just showed it at all times."

He was honest. "Everything was straight from the heart, no jibber-jabbering," Hangen said.

Hardardt's honesty came with a sense of humor. One of his favorite phrases, recalled Selectman Arthur Moody, was "Town meeting has a right to be stupid!"

Hardardt was Moody's vice chairman on a committee to raise money for the commissioning of the USS Hampton submarine. "He was a work," Moody said.

In 1992, the town started selling dump-picking permits, and Moody said he is almost certain, Hardardt got "permit number one" so that he could salvage and sell scrap copper and aluminum.

Hardardt was usually the first call firefighter to arrive at fires, Moody said.

For the past 25 years, Hardardt could be counted on to ring the Salvation Army bell in front of Colt News on the Saturday before Christmas, according to former Selectman Glyn Eastman, who owns the store. "It was a tradition."

Eastman also recalls meeting Hardardt in Las Vegas when both were vacationing there with their wives. When Eastman won a $10,000 jackpot, Hardardt "was more excited than I was."

Rep. Ken Malcolm said Hardardt "put his heart into everything" and will be especially missed at town meeting.

"No matter what side of the political equation you were on, you had to have a lot of respect for George Hardardt," said David Lang, president of the firefighters union.

At town meeting, Hardardt would rise to defend "to the death" his opponent's right to speak -- and then disagree with the person he just defended. Lang recalled with a chuckle, "this is one son of Hampton it will take a long time to replace."

"George will be missed," said School Board member John Woodburn. "Nobody had anything bad to say about him"

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