On Friday morning January 22, 2021, Stanley Parks Hardy of Providence R.I., passed away after 92 years on this earth.

Stan was born on January 9,1929 to Viola and Ralph Hardy of Gloucester, MA. After participating in the Navy ROTC Program in High School, he attended and graduated from Boston University, then enlisted in the Marine Corps and was honorably discharged after serving for 2 years. After completing studies at Yale School of Divinity, Stan was ordained as an Episcopal priest. Having lived in Marshfield, MA. for 40 years, when his wife Jane passed away 2 years ago, he went to live with his youngest stepson James MacDonald, in Providence, RI.

While much of his adult life was spent serving the priesthood, in between church assignments he pursued a multifaceted range of occupations and interests. He spent time as a mortician, a chauffeur, received a degree in Culinary Arts at Johnson and Wales College and worked for several years as a pastry chef. Stan then attended Emerson College and spent time as an assistant speech language therapist at Habilitation Assistance Corporation in Plymouth. Additionally, Stan loved working with stained glass, woodworking (including bird carving), needlepoint, origami, bread making and loom knitting – this is only a partial list of the interests in which he found himself immersed.

During his last couple of years in Providence, he often used to say "I feel like I have a new lease on life!" Moving from the small quiet seaside town of Marshfield (by Humarock) in Massachusetts to the small but bustling city of Providence Rhode Island, he embarked on many adventures. From getting Season Tickets to the Trinity Rep Theater company, to attending Providence Waterfire (where we wrote and lit a luminary for Mom), to attending the George Floyd Protest at the Statehouse Capital grounds, to attending James' weekly AA meeting Brothers in Sobriety, to eating out at restaurants that James promoted and participated in through Rhode Island Food Fight and attending the Gloria Feinstein Senior Center, where he, as he did at the Marshfield Council on Aging, teach Origami and develop relationships with people. The first time we walked into Grace Church in Downtown Providence, it brought back memories of All Saints Ashmont in Dorchester MA, where his first impressions of joining the church began. All of James' friends that met Stan immediately thought of him as adorable!

Stan leaves behind his brother Ralph, of Beverly MA, four stepchildren, eight grandchildren, and three great grandchildren. He was loved by all who knew him and will be deeply missed.

Funeral arrangements will be announced at a later date for Trinity Church in Marshfield Hills MA as COVID restrictions are relaxed, re-gathering is permitted, and we're all more comfortable coming together. There also will be a Memorial Gathering at the Lillian Feinstein Senior Center.

Donations in Stan's memory can be made to Capital City Community Centers for The Lillian Feinstein Senior Center, 825 Chalkstone Avenue, Providence, RI  02908

Correspondence may be sent to: James MacDonald, 277 Mount Pleasant Avenue, Providence, RI 02908.