HARDWICK, Myrtle

Printed in the Benkelman Post in 1961 Myrtle Rowena (Quimby) Hardwick Mrs. Myrtle R. Hardwick, a pioneer resident of Dundy county, was laid at rest in the Benkelman cemetery on Friday afternoon after services at the Methodist Church. Mrs. Hardwick passed away at the Pringle Memorial Hospital on December 18th, where she had been under treatment for a heart attack on December 14th. The Rev. W. T. Israel was in charge of the services at which Mrs. Gwen Bauer was the organist and Mrs. LaNeta Anderson the soloist. Casket bearers were Tommy Dale Hardwick, Robert Hardwick, Glen Foster, Leonard Brown, Manley Baney and Gerald Baney. Services were arranged by the Laughlin Funeral Home. Myrtle Rowena Quimby, the eldest of three daughters, was born on December 25, 1884, in Madison, Wisconsin, to Amelia and Omar Quimby and came to Dundy County at the age of four years. The family settled on a homestead north of Haigler, where they lived until moving into Haigler, where she finished her education. She received her teacher's certificate at the age of sixteen and taught for nine years in Dundy and Cheyenne County schools. On January 22, 1907, she was united in marriage to Thomas Mandeville Hardwick. They lived in Sheridan, Wyoming, for two years, then homesteaded twelve miles northwest of Benkelman. To this union were born ten children: Opal (Perkins), Percy, Omar, Wilford, Marcella (Samler), Wade, Fairy (Schrader), Betty (Schrader), William and Merle. There were 26 grandchildren, three of whom preceded her in death, and 10 living great grandchildren. Her sister Pearl still resides in Cheyenne County, Kansas. On September 16, 1945, her husband Tom preceded her in death. Five years later, she moved to Benkelman where she resided for the last eleven years. She departed this life on December 18, 1961, at the age of 76 years, 11 months, and 23 days, at the Pringle Memorial Hospital in Benkelman after suffering a heart attack on December 14. She will long be remembered as a loving and faithful wife, a devoted and wonderful mother, and a friend to all. Her passing leaves a void in the lives of those who knew her, a void never to be filled as she always thought of others first, always considering herself last. She will be sadly missed by all who knew her, and her memory will live forever.