Mary C. Hardin, 94, died peacefully on Dec. 31 at Westminster Health Care.
Mary was a consummate nurturer of her family, her friends and her community. With her keen love of letter-writing and her superb listening skills, Mary excelled in creating lasting bonds with, and among, family members and friends. She also was a global citizen, making lifelong friends in countries she visited as the wife of Lowell S. Hardin.
Born in Providence, R.I. on April 3, 1917, she moved to West Lafayette, Indiana three years later with her parents, Professor Roy Cooley and Jenny Koehler Cooley. She attended public schools here and graduated from Purdue as a home economics major in 1939, having served as co-ed editor of the student newspaper and as a counselor in the women?s residence hall.
Mary worked after graduation in the test kitchens of Jewel Tea Company in Chicago and later for the electrical power company near Buffalo, N.Y. She and Lowell were married in September 1940 in a garden wedding at the home of her parents. When Lowell was a graduate student at Cornell University, Mary helped in his research, establishing a pattern of shared work that continued throughout their years together.
That partnership spanned Mary?s years as a Purdue faculty wife, between 1943 and 1965, including a life-changing three month-stay in Tokyo in 1960; and residence in New York City between 1965 and 1981, when Mary immersed herself in cultural and educational opportunities and traveled widely with Lowell.
Mary was an expert seamstress and decorator; she learned in Japan to make artful floral arrangements; and while in New York, with an architect?s help, she designed a family home to be built near Monticello. She loved to read and was an enthusiastic member of the University Wives& Book Club. She belonged to the Federated Church, Round Table Club, and the Therapeutic Bridge Club of West Lafayette.
Surviving along with her husband are two sons Thomas S. Hardin of New Haven, CT, Peter L. Hardin (wife Karen MacPherson) of Takoma Park, MD, a daughter Joy Hardin (husband James Elferdink) of McKinleyville, CA, a brother, Donald Cooley (wife Diane) of Watsonville, CA, and a sister Catherine Woodward of Carlisle, MA. She leaves four grandchildren: Katie and Jeff Hardin of CT and Sally and Tim Hardin of MD.
She was preceded in death by a brother Robert Cooley, a sister Margaret Payne.
A Memorial Service will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday Jan. 5 at Federated Church. Those wishing may contribute in her memory to Westminster Village Foundation.