John Dewitt Hardy

Funeral services for John Dewitt Hardy will be held at 11:00 am on Wednesday, January 6, 2016 at Blanchard - St. Denis Funeral Home in Natchitoches, LA with Dr. Donald Hatley officiating. Interment will follow at Memory Lawn Cemetery in Natchitoches, LA. The family will receive friends from 10:00 am until 11:00 am on January 6, 2016 at Blanchard - St. Denis Funeral Home in Natchitoches, LA. John D. Hardy was born in Pontotoc, MS on July 30, 1918. He flew his 1st airplane when he was 16. It was an Aeronca C3 - the flying bathtub. He and his friend flour bombed 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 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 2 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 January 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, LA; his grandson, Chad McClure of Houston, TX; his brother, Joe Hardy, Jr. of Louisville, KY; his sister-in-law, Billie Mason Morgan of Montgomery, TX; a brother in law, Joe Mason LeBlanc of Baton Rouge, LA; nieces, Debby Morgan Dobbs and her husband Doug of Montgomery, TX, Sharon Hardy Black of Versailles, KY and Theresa Hardy of Kentucky; and one nephew, Randy Morgan of Halsey, OR. 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.