Doris Hardee BEDFORD, Iowa Obituary

Doris Hardee

A celebration of life, time of sharing, for Doris will be held Saturday, January 30, 2021 at the New Life Missionary Church in Bedford, at 3:30 PM. A time of gathering and fellowship will be held at 3 PM on Saturday before the sharing time. Her niece Jayne, shortly before she passed, spoke warmly of her aunt Doris as “the elegant one” of the Hardee clan. And she was. Doris always carried herself with dignity, decency, and caring. Doris grew up in the farm family of Harve and Ethel Thompson, with two brothers Max and Darrell, and two sisters Rosalie and Virginia. She grew up in the Depression, then graduated to World War II. Her childhood was a time of deprivation, followed by a season of sacrifice. Living with lack was the only life she knew. She had only one fancy dress to get her through four years of high school parties. Apparently, that one dress was all it took. For it was in this time that a strapping young man, Junior Hardee, came courting. He had no more wealth than she, but they rubbed their two pennies together and started a married life (Mar 25, 1944) that not only survived that challenging time, but seven decades more. Fresh out of high school, Doris then taught high school herself. Thankfully, Junior survived the war to return to a waiting, worried wife, accompanied now by Steve, a son Junior had not yet seen. Doris and Junior farmed just east of Siam, then in the Bedford area. Through these years, they raised five children, suffering the devastating loss of one of them, Joleen, a tragedy that would forever leave a scar on their hearts. Doris tended a large garden, served creamed peas and potatoes, hung washed clothes to dry on long, strung-out clothes-lines, rimmed her house with flowers – daffodils and hollyhocks, roses and irises -- and took her kids to a Methodist church. Doris clubbed with neighborhood farm women. She canned and cooked and cleaned. She helped on the farm, became a teacher’s aide, then worked as secretary for a propane service. Doris and Junior attended their sons’ sporting events, took family vacations to Yellowstone, the Badlands, Hannibal, Eureka Springs, Detroit, and Niagara. They spent joyous holidays with the Hardee clan or at the Thompson home north of Siam. Doris specialized in pies, cakes, cookies, and chocolate chip bars. Her kids had a hard life. Doris and Junior retired into square dancing and traveling, once to the World’s Fair, stealing along a couple grandkids. Junior passed in Oct, 2014. Doris struggled on, through heart surgery, a broken hip, and then a broken leg, but found comfort at the Methodist church. She also delighted in her 90th birthday because it occasioned a Thompson family reunion. She was a family fixture for decades, to the very end exerting a gravitational pull on dozens of descendants in her orbit, flung far and wide – but always drawn irresistibly back. Despite hardships and losses, her ready smile warmed others and made them feel they had value – “Don’t you look nice!” she would say. And “She is so good at that!” Jayne was right – Doris was an elegant one. It was an elegance radiating from her kind heart. Doris was preceded in death by her parents, daughter Joleen, daughter-in-law Shari, and each of her siblings. She is survived by sister-in-law Wyleen, sons Stephen and wife Joan, Scott and wife Lynda, Tom and wife Nancy, and Edwin and wife Angela, along with numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She leaves so many who adored her, but at last can rejoin Junior, her love of 70 years. She sewed dresses in her younger days, often for family members. She sewed grandchild blankets, then quilts, in her latter days. Young or elderly, giving and humble, Doris Thompson Hardee stitched herself into the hearts of four generations of Hardees.
September 29, 1925 - January 23, 202109/29/192501/23/2021
Share Obituary:

Share a memory

Add to your memory
Photos/Video
Candle
Mementos

Obituary

A celebration of life, time of sharing, for Doris will be held Saturday, January 30, 2021 at the New Life Missionary Church in Bedford, at 3:30 PM. A time of gathering and fellowship will be held at 3 PM on Saturday before the sharing time. Her niece Jayne, shortly before she passed, spoke warmly of her aunt Doris as “the elegant one” of the Hardee clan. And she was. Doris always carried herself with dignity, decency, and caring. Doris grew up in the farm family of Harve and Ethel Thompson, with two brothers Max and Darrell, and two sisters Rosalie and Virginia. She grew up in the Depression, then graduated to World War II. Her childhood was a time of deprivation, followed by a season of sacrifice. Living with lack was the only life she knew. She had only one fancy dress to get her through four years of high school parties. Apparently, that one dress was all it took. For it was in this time that a strapping young man, Junior Hardee, came courting. He had no more wealth than she, but they rubbed their two pennies together and started a married life (Mar 25, 1944) that not only survived that challenging time, but seven decades more. Fresh out of high school, Doris then taught high school herself. Thankfully, Junior survived the war to return to a waiting, worried wife, accompanied now by Steve, a son Junior had not yet seen. Doris and Junior farmed just east of Siam, then in the Bedford area. Through these years, they raised five children, suffering the devastating loss of one of them, Joleen, a tragedy that would forever leave a scar on their hearts. Doris tended a large garden, served creamed peas and potatoes, hung washed clothes to dry on long, strung-out clothes-lines, rimmed her house with flowers – daffodils and hollyhocks, roses and irises -- and took her kids to a Methodist church. Doris clubbed with neighborhood farm women. She canned and cooked and cleaned. She helped on the farm, became a teacher’s aide, then worked as secretary for a propane service. Doris and Junior attended their sons’ sporting events, took family vacations to Yellowstone, the Badlands, Hannibal, Eureka Springs, Detroit, and Niagara. They spent joyous holidays with the Hardee clan or at the Thompson home north of Siam. Doris specialized in pies, cakes, cookies, and chocolate chip bars. Her kids had a hard life. Doris and Junior retired into square dancing and traveling, once to the World’s Fair, stealing along a couple grandkids. Junior passed in Oct, 2014. Doris struggled on, through heart surgery, a broken hip, and then a broken leg, but found comfort at the Methodist church. She also delighted in her 90th birthday because it occasioned a Thompson family reunion. She was a family fixture for decades, to the very end exerting a gravitational pull on dozens of descendants in her orbit, flung far and wide – but always drawn irresistibly back. Despite hardships and losses, her ready smile warmed others and made them feel they had value – “Don’t you look nice!” she would say. And “She is so good at that!” Jayne was right – Doris was an elegant one. It was an elegance radiating from her kind heart. Doris was preceded in death by her parents, daughter Joleen, daughter-in-law Shari, and each of her siblings. She is survived by sister-in-law Wyleen, sons Stephen and wife Joan, Scott and wife Lynda, Tom and wife Nancy, and Edwin and wife Angela, along with numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She leaves so many who adored her, but at last can rejoin Junior, her love of 70 years. She sewed dresses in her younger days, often for family members. She sewed grandchild blankets, then quilts, in her latter days. Young or elderly, giving and humble, Doris Thompson Hardee stitched herself into the hearts of four generations of Hardees.

Events

Jan
30
Gathering
Saturday, January 30 2021
03:00 PM - 03:30 PM
New Life Missionary Church
301 Pollock Avenue
Bedford, IA 50833
Get Directions
View MapTextEmail
Jan
30
Celebration of Life
Saturday, January 30 2021
03:30 PM - 04:00 PM
New Life Missionary Church
301 Pollock Avenue
Bedford, IA 50833
Get Directions
View MapTextEmail

Memorial Contributions

In lieu of flowers the family requests memorials be directed to:

The Fairview Cemetery Association. C/O Betty Longfellow 1102 Illinois Street Bedford, Iowa 50833

In lieu of flowers the family requests memorials be directed to: