Dale Calvin Hardy was born September 28, 1939 in Burley, Idaho, and died July 22, 2011, after an extended illness including 6 years of dialysis treatment. He was the oldest son of Jay Calvin Hardy and Leah Frances Hoggan Hardy. Since he was the first grandson and had a lot of young aunts and an uncle close by, he was well loved and maybe spoiled. His Aunt Maxine tells how she used to pace back and forth in front of Leahs house hoping she’d see her and invite her in to play with baby Dale. (Her mother told her she wasn’t to go unless she was invited.) She thought he was most likely the cutest baby ever born. And she was so proud to be an aunt.
Dale came from good pioneer stock. His ancestors were righteous, valiant people who helped build the church in England, Nauvoo, and the Salt Lake Valley. Their stories are stories of bravery, courage and faithfulness. I mention this because I hope that all you children and grandchildren will study their stories and be proud and thankful for the heritage that your father and grandfather and those before him have left you. I hope you will have the desire to continue following their examples of righteousness and appreciate the sacrifices they have made for you to enjoy the blessings you do today.
Dale was the oldest of 9 children so was involved in lots of activities with his siblings. His brothers and sisters are all bright, intelligent people . Improving their minds through reading and learning was always important in their home. Dale loved to read. I cannot count the books he has read even in the last 6 years during dialysis. I mention this so you can appreciate the legacy of keen minds and the importance of learning your Dad has left you.
Dale had a happy childhood and youth although he moved many times with his father working construction. When he graduated from college he requested security clearance from the Government and discovered he was 24 year old and had 26 different addresses. To me, who had always lived in the same place, this sounded like a terrible life, but what it did for Dale was give him many friends and made it easy for him too make new friends. He never met a stranger. He would chat comfortably with them and soon discover mutual friends or surprisingly often…a long lost cousin. When we walked across the campus at BYU, I swear he knew at least every 4th person. Meeting people was easy for him and he loved to share his beliefs. He was a man who saw good and most times only good in everyone.
Being the oldest of 9 children Dale had many responsibilities and enjoyed riding his horse Rocky and working alongside his father. He loved music and in high school started playing the saxophone and got to be very good at it winning state and local contest s. He likes to tell of being on the football team and getting to march with the band in the half time shows in his football uniform,( minus the helmet.) playing the sax.
He was in nearly every imaginable band at BYU his freshman year. As an adult Grandma White kept him busy playing Melody of Love on his sax for most every family gathering.
After his freshman year, Dale served a Mission to Southern California where he saw many people join the church.
When Dale returned he went to Montana State in Missoula for a year and realized there was not much money to be made as a musician so changed his major to accounting. After a year in Montana he went back to BYU where he had the good fortune (my opinion) to meet Roberta Rae White and they were married in . the Manti Temple in 1964.
After graduating from BYU, Dale went to work for the government accounting office and traveled doing short time projects over the Western United States. During this time Dale studied for and passed the C.P.A. exam and became a certified public accountant. The travel made for a fun extended honeymoon…well fun for awhile, but the travel did get old so Dale got a full time job at a CPA firm in Ogden, Utah.
In Ogden Dale became Father to (in his words) 2 of the cutest little girls ever born, and I can vouch for the accuracy of that statement. Their names are Dalyne Roberta and Julene Kaye.
After a short time in Ogden , Dale decided he wanted more education so pursued a degree in law with the hope of becoming a corporate lawyer /tax attorney. He packed up his little family , got a job at a CPA firm in California where he worked during the day and attended Layola Law School at night. It was a bit of a challenge but he was succeeding and working toward his goal.
For Christmas we decided to visit my family in Fruita . On our return to California, near Loma, a truck lost control on slick roads and came into our lane hitting us head on. That accident is a story in and of itself, but long story short….the girls were safe, I had a broken neck and hip, and Dale sustained a bad closed head injury and was in a coma for several days.
Because my parents were stretched as thin as they could be caring for me and the girls, Dale was flown to his parents home for care and in the process was lost in the cracks medically with little medical follow up or therapy.
Of course he could no longer handle the law school regiment or the job and eventually moved to Grand Junction where my family could help us. Head injuries change people, but Heavenly Father blessed Dale in many ways to function in a normal way. However things were often difficult for him and, truthfully, for me also. That is why the reality of the resurrection is so glorious…to know the body will be restored to its perfect state is a blessing comparable to none given to us by our Savior.
Making a living was sometimes a little hard but with the help of family and heaven I was able to stay home and raise our children and we never wanted for anything.
In Grand Junction 4 more children were born….Daren William, John Calvin, Jena Diane and Devin Davis.
One thing that was not affected by his head injury in the least was his love for and pride in his children. He
never missed an opportunity to boast about his children and he thought they were exceptional and the best there could be……and again, I might have to back him up on that one.
These 6 children are undoubtedly the greatest blessing of his life. I remember President Monson speaking even before he was the prophet and encouraging us to be good to our parents. I was anxious to follow that counsel and it was easy for me, for my parents were easy to respect. But it has been interesting as I have watched on this end of the circle how important those kindnesses are and I can not thank our children enough for the respect and love they have shown to their dad, especially in the last years of his illness..
I know the Lord puts great importance on honoring parents because he included it in the 10 commandments and also promises blessings for obedience. I pray that the Lord's choicest blessings will come to these dear children in appreciation for their service to their dad. And I know if he were here, he would want to thank them sincerely.
We can’t end a story about Dale Hardy without mentioning a few more things.
The first is fishing. Dale had to be the most patient fisherman that has ever lived. He would happily sit in one spot for hours and wait for the fish to come to him. He had faith that the fish would come. We were discussing our family fishing trips last week and laughing about how we had to bring lots of entertainment for ourselves because Dale would always want to stay a little longer and he was sure the fish would bite better the later it got. And don‘t think we would get to leave if it rained. He also thought you caught more fish in the rain. I‘m afraid his passion did not necessarily endear his women folk to fishing, but one son did catch a little of the spark for the sport. He also loved hunting with his brothers and dad.
Second is his devotion to BYU sports . We have a tradition to write New Years predictions every year and without fail we could predict dad would put as his No. 1 prediction that BYU would win the national championship. I think once he was right.
He had the coveted church calling of being in charge of the church satellite and was faithful in seeing that the BYU football games were on every week. Occasionally he was the only one watching, but often the Relief Society room was full of fans with Dale's "Hallelujah" shout ringing out above all else when BYU scored.
I think his sneeze was unique, in fact I have never seen it duplicated. It included a distinguished yell that was guaranteed to get attention.
Next Dale had several jokes that he enjoyed and repeated often, much to his own delight….not so much his family. I hate to admit it, and I sure hope he isn’t hearing me now, but I HEARD MYSELF repeat one of those jokes the other day and it really was a little funny.
Most people will read the funny papers and perhaps smile or muster up a little chuckle, but not Dale. The funny papers extracted a full belly laugh from him….and the Readers Digest jokes….oh goodness…he’d say “Do you want to hear a good one?” and we’d say no, but we heard them anyway.
Next is his love of his country. He was an election judge for many years and faithfully attended all the local caucuses and was elected to the conventions often. He thoroughly enjoyed 20 years as the treasurer for the Kiwanis club, both here and in Ogden
Last is his strong testimony and desire to serve in the Church. Dale spent a lot of time with the Boy Scouts and there are lots of stories about the adventures they had at camps and on outings.
One of his favorite church callings was that of stake executive secretary where he served 13 years under two different stake presidents. John says that every letter he got from his dad while he was on his mission started out exactly the same. It said "It is such a privilege to work with the wonderful men in the stake presidency and high council."
He loved home teaching and was faithful and consistent in his assignments and loved his families.
As I think of Dale's life I feel a great sadness for the challenges of health he has had to endure. For the last six years he has had to have dialysis 3 times a week consistently and yet I never once had him complain or hesitate to get up and ready to go. He endured a lot of physical suffering but the key word is endure.
He was a strong valiant man and endured faithfully to the end and with his suffering ended, I'm certain that his reward will be great. I so look forward to reuniting with Dale in a body free from imperfections and sorrows.
Much of Dale's married life he loved watching and performing with his family in many different venues and was always so proud of them. It seems appropriate now for his children to provide the music for his service. All the music we have chosen are songs about our Savior who has always been important in Dale’s life.
This first song is usually heard at Christmas since it is about the birth of Jesus. It has always been a favorite of ours. And appropriate as one of our songs about the Savior.
I am thankful that Dale has been released from his suffering and look forward to a glorious eternity.
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| Uncle Devin and Grandma Bobbi |
Grandma Bobbi designed this headstone herself. I think it turned out beautifully and I love the ledges on the side for placing flowers. The cemetery said they think she started something because a lot of people are really impressed by it. I love that when we go to visit the cemetery, it stands out among all the others and we will be able to go right to it. Because they knew the brick-layer (he is Jena's husband's brother), John was able to have the experience of helping to build it. I have to say it one more time- It turned out beautiful!
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