Thomas William Hardy, born in Columbus, MS, November 8, 1918, son of Bess Hall and James Harris Hardy, and husband of Sue Richards Hardy, died at Columbus, MS, May 9, 2012. Visitation will be held at 1:00 PM at St. Pauls Episcopal Church in Columbus, MS, with a memorial service following at 2:00 PM, on Saturday, May 12, 2012. Following cremation, he requested that his ashes be scattered at a later date in the garden at Oakland Plantation. He grew up on Oakland Plantation, in southwest Lowndes County, MS, and graduated with a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Mississippi State College in 1939. Upon graduation, he became an Experimental Test Engineer with the Pratt and Whitney Aircraft Corporation, in East Hartford, Connecticut, where he remained 3 ½ years until the United States entered World War II. During the war, he served as a fighter pilot with Fighter Squadron VMF 312 of the U. S. Marines in the Pacific Theatre, where he was officially credited with destroying three Japanese planes in aerial combat. On August 7, 1945, he was married to Sue Young Richards , of Columbus, and Ocean Springs, MS. They had two children, Sallie Alyda, and Thomas William, Jr. Following the war, he returned to Lowndes County to operate Oakland Plantation, of which he became the owner upon the death of his father in 1947. He continued to operate the plantation for many years, and in addition became a real estate broker, specializing in the sale of farm lands in and around Lowndes County. He is survived by his wife, Sue Richards Hardy of Columbus, daughter, Sallie Hardy(Charles Scott) of Fort Walton Beach, FL, son, Will Hardy(Judy),of Columbus, three grandchildren, Alyda Hardy Merritt(Alex), of Atlanta, Ga, Emmaline Hardy, of Wilmington, NC and Ashley Hardy, of Richmond, VA, and Columbus, MS. Memorials may be made to St. Pauls Episcopal Church, 318 College Street, Columbus, MS 39701 or to an organization of the donors choice.
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