Clarence Paul “Bud” Hardies was born to Paul Carl and Minnie Augusta (Wittfoth) Hardies on July 6, 1922 on a farm in Rock Township of Pipestone County, Minnesota. He was raised on a farm in Rock Township of Pipestone County where he attended school in District 41. Upon completion of his education, he helped on the family farm. On November 10, 1942, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corp and served during World War II in the Pacific Theater and in China. After his honorable discharge from the service on December 16, 1945, he returned to the Holland area and worked in construction. On December 5, 1951, he was united in marriage to Sylvia Elzenga at St. James Lutheran Church in Holland. Following their marriage, they lived in Holland. In 1962, Bud went into farming in Fountain Prairie Township and continued to farm there until 1979 when he returned to the construction business until his retirement in 1995. On April 27, 2017, Bud moved into Ridge View Estates and resided there until entering the Pipestone County Hospice House on Tuesday, October 8, 2019. He passed away peacefully there on Tuesday, October 15, 2019 at the age of 97 years, three months, and nine days.
Bud was a member of St. James Lutheran Church in Holland where he was baptized on July 23, 1922 and confirmed in the Lutheran faith in 1935. He was also a member of the Earl Gruis American Legion Post 534 in Holland and the Pipestone VFW Post 3814. He was an avid reader, and he enjoyed fishing and hunting. Bud was a man of faith and loved the Lord all his life.
He is lovingly remembered by his wife, Sylvia Hardies of Holland, Minnesota; three children, Paul (Linda) Hardies of Apple Valley, Minnesota, Rhonda (Marion) Trees of Crosslake Minnesota, and Lynn (Jeff) Mauland of Cottonwood, Minnesota; eleven grandchildren, Daren Hardies, Susan (Nick) Bacca, Angie (Matthew) Kruger, Jeff Hardies, Michelle Ranheim, Jennifer (Seth) Miner, Jessica Walter, Sarah Trees, Andy Trees, Sarah (Bryce) Hansen, and Nathan Mauland; several great-grandchildren; and two sisters, Mavis Fritz of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and Norma Schoenfeld of Watertown, South Dakota. He was preceded in death by their infant son, David Hardies; his parents; sisters, Irma (Art) Pulscher, Irene (Floyd) Weatherly; and brothers-in-law, Ronald Bartels, Floyd Fritz, and Lloyd Schoenfeld.
