Duane R. Hardy; worked for peace and civil rights Posted on May 16th
Duane R. Hardy, 95, of Newtown Square, a retired bookkeeper and lifelong peace and civil-rights activist, died at home April 22 of complications from a fall.
A native of Almond, N.Y., Mr. Hardy was involved with the Socialist Party in the 1930s. During World War II, he supported conscientious objectors. Later, he was active in the movements for civil rights and nuclear disarmament, and against the Vietnam War.
For more than 35 years Mr. Hardy was a bookkeeper for businesses in Rochester, N.Y. When he retired in 1972, he and his wife, Anne Sauer Hardy, moved to Tennessee to work for the Highlander Research and Education Center, a community-organizing group. They then worked for six years with the Southern Conference Educational Fund, a civil-rights organization in Atlanta.
After moving to Delaware County in 1982, Mr. Hardy volunteered at the food cupboard at Chester Eastside Ministries. He was also a volunteer bookkeeper for the Workers’ Rights Law Project, the National Anti-Klan Network, and Jobs With Peace, an organization devoted to analyzing the effects of government policies and spending on the economy.
Mr. Hardy grew up in rural New York and often regaled his children with stories about the primitive lifestyle, said his son Dan, an Inquirer reporter. “The first use of electricity on the family’s farm was to warm the henhouse. His mother could not imagine why anyone would need it in the house,” his son said.
Mr. Hardy attended the Rochester Business Institute, where he met his future wife. They married in 1934. He was a loving husband and father, their son said. He enjoyed telling corny jokes and limericks and recited the poems of Kipling, Service and Longfellow to keep his sons from getting restless while cutting their hair.
Ann Sauer Hardy died in 1988. The next year, Mr. Hardy married Nell Matthews.
In addition to his wife and son, Mr. Hardy is survived by sons Alan and Doug and eight grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Delaware County, 145 W. Rose Tree Rd., Media.
Memorial donations may be made to Delaware County Wage Peace and Justice, Box 1791, Media, Pa. 19063.
Contact staff writer Sally A. Downey at 215-854-2913 or sdowney@phillynews.com.
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