Funeral services for John Dewitt Hardy were at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 6, at Blanchard - St. Denis Funeral Home with Dr. Donald Hatley officiating. Interment followed at Memory Lawn Cemetery in Natchitoches. The family received friends from 10 a.m. - 11 a.m. on Jan. 6, at the funeral home. John D. Hardy was born in Pontotoc, Miss., July 30, 1918. He flew his first airplane when he was 16. It was an Aeronca C3 - the flying bathtub. He and his friend flourbombed the high school and had to finish high school elsewhere. John was an airplane mechanic in WWII. His eyes were supposedly too bad to fly. Dad went on to fly nearly 2 million accident-free miles in his decades of aviation. He became an airplane mechanic in Shreveport for Southern Aviation, then for Cities Service. He married Mom, Martha “Anise” Mason Hardy on April 8, 1944. They remained happily married nearly 60 years. Dad began flying corporate executives for Texas Eastern in 1954, then was transferred to Houston in 1958. John and Anise adopted a daughter, Vicki Lee Hardy Locatto, in 1955. He retired from Texas Eastern in 1974, then flew corporate executives for Reidy International and Brown & Root. Dad and Mom moved to Natchitoches in 1979. There they were able to spend time with grandson Chad Michael McClure born in 1978. Dad flew for local professionals in Natchitoches. During the 70s and 80s, he built two airplanes and had begun a third one. He always enjoyed woodworking and photography. He had a woodworking shop and a dark room in the garage. His favorite saying was “If I tell you tomorrow is Christmas, then you better hang up your stocking.” One of the brightest beacons in my life has gone out. Daddy passed away at home on Jan. 2, 2016 after a brief illness. I miss him so very much. He is survived by his daughter, Vicki Locatto and her husband Ray of Port Barre; his grandson, Chad McClure of Houston; his brother, Joe Hardy Jr. of Louisville, Ky.; his sister-in-law, Billie Mason Morgan of Montgomery, Texas; a brother-in-law, Joe Mason LeBlanc of Baton Rouge; nieces, Debby Morgan Dobbs and her husband Doug of Montgomery, Texas, Sharon Hardy Black of Versailles, Ky.m and Theresa Hardy of Kentucky; and one nephew, Randy Morgan of Halsey, Ore. He was preceded in death by his wife, Martha Anise Mason Hardy; his parents, Joe Hardy, Sr. and Jessie Lee Russell Hardy; one sister, Ann Neely Hardy Alvarez; and one brother, Clarence Hardy.
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