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Former Do it Best Board of Directors Chairman and president and chairman emeritus of Hardman Supply Company Stanley Hardman passed away April 22.
Hardman was born on May 11, 1944, in Morgantown, West Virginia. He died in the Levine & Dickson Hospice House at Southminster in Charlotte, North Carolina.
He is survived by his loving wife of 45 years, Donna Frazier Hardman.
Hardman joined his father in the family hardware business in Spencer, West Virginia, in 1969. At the time of his passing, he was the retired President and Chairman Emeritus of Hardman Supply Company.
Hardman also served as president of the Hardware Association of the Virginias; was a member of the Advisory Board of the Home Center Institute and was named one of the industry’s Top Guns by Hardware Retailing magazine in 2007.
Hardman was a long-time member of the Better Information Group, a forum of top management peers from independent lumber and hardware dealers across the country. As a friend in the industry stated, “Stan personified everything good about the hardware industry.”
“I’ve probably known Stan for over thirty-five years going back to our early connection through the Hardware Association of the Virginias. Stan epitomized the word gentleman. There was none finer. He was a great husband, father, businessman and friend. He was always so willing to share what he knew to help others, and yet you’ve never seen someone so eager to learn more,” said Bob Taylor, Do it Best Corp. President and CEO.
“He was particularly passionate on the subject of succession planning. And, in fact, his last presentation to a Do it Best group was on that very subject. Stan was a true servant leader. His service and leadership on the Do it Best Corp. board of directors set the example for others. We are all saddened by his loss, but we will long benefit from all his many significant contributions over the years. Our prayers are with his wife, Donna, their daughters Jamie and Gwen, and the entire Hardman family.”
In addition to his wife Donna, he is survived by two daughters, Jamie Loving of McLean, Virginia and Gwendolyn Lowry of Charlotte and sons-in-law James W. Loving, Jr. and T. Kirk Lowry, III; four grandchildren, Adelaide and Charlotte Loving and Eliza and Thomas Kirkpatrick “Kip” Lowry, IV; brothers, Fred C. Hardman and wife Martha, Thomas F. Hardman and wife Susan all of Spencer; sister Sarah Hardman Giachino and husband, Nick of St. Charles, Illinois; brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Joe and Cheryl Wilson of Spencer.
Memorial gifts can be given to the West Virginia University Foundation, IMO Stan Hardman, 1 Waterfront Place, Morgantown, WV 26501, or the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, IMO Stan Hardman, 383 Main Ave., 5th Floor, Norwalk, Connecticut, 26851 (www.themmrf.org)
Taylor-Vandale Funeral Home, 206 Beauty St., Spencer, is in charge of the arrangements.
Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday. A Celebration of Life service will be Saturday at 11 a.m., both at St. John’s United Methodist Church, 335 Church St., Spencer, West Virginia with the Rev. Michael Ludle officiating, assisted by the Rev. Art Tucker. A graveside service in Spencer Memorial Cemetery will follow.
