Beatrice Hardman's Obituary
Beatrice Nicholas Hardman was born June 5, 1919, in New York City, New York, the daughter of James Thomas and Cora Plant. She departed this life Thursday, October 23, 2008, in Hidden Lake Nursing Home, Raytown, Missouri, at the age of eighty-nine years, four months and eighteen days. On June 4, 1942, in Memphis, Missouri, she was united in marriage to Clarence May “Doc” Hardman and to this union two children were born. Together they shared sixty-five years until his passing on July 13, 2007. During World War I, Beatrice’s father, Thomas, died due to influenza. She and her brother and sister were placed in a New York orphanage. When Beatrice was four years old, she rode the “Orphan Train” to Kirksville, Missouri. The three children were raised by separate families and soon lost track of each other. Beatrice was raised by the family of Jim and Ida Nicholas on a farm near Millard, Missouri. During the Great Depression, the Nicholas family lost their farm and moved to Kirksville, Missouri. Bea graduated from Kirksville High School and entered the Kirksville State Teachers College when she was sixteen. She later graduated from what is now Truman University. She taught school in the Kansas City and Independence schools for thirty-one years. She taught with love and patience and earned the title of Master Teacher where she trained new teachers in Kansas City. These were her happiest years. The children loved her and she loved them. Many have kept in touch with her through the years. She was preceded in death by her husband; birth parents; her adopted parents; a sister, Cora Elizabeth, and a brother, Thomas James. Survivors include her children, Mike Hardman, and his wife, Sandy, of Lee’s Summitt, Missouri, Carol Nash of Versailles, Missouri, and Jean Pilkerton of Lee’s Summitt, Missouri; three grandchildren, Michele Walden and her husband, Allen, and Sherry Gardner and her husband, Mark, all of Lee’s Summitt, Missouri, and Lee Nash and his wife, Reatha, of Versailles, Missouri; nine great-grandchildren; special friends, Mike and Pauline Clausen and their daughters and other relatives and friends. She followed the teachings of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and had been a member of Cornerstone Church in Sunrise Beach. Bea was a loving mother and grandmother and was a caring neighbor and friend. She made an impact on many lives and her memory will carry on in the hearts of her family, friends and former students. Graveside services will be held at 10:00 am Saturday October 25, 2008 at the Garber Memorial Estates Cemetery under the direction of the Allee- Holman- Howe Funeral Home Camdenton, Missouri. A memroial has been established to Kansas City Hospice. Donations may be made through the funeral home. Return to top
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