Helen Perry Hardy of Columbus, Mississippi

February 27, 1925 - December 15, 2019

Helen Perry Hardy, age 94, of Columbus, MS passed away December 15, 2019 at her residence after a brief illness. Graveside services will be held on Wednesday, December 18, 2019 at 10:00 AM at Friendship Cemetery with Dr. Shawn Parker officiating. Memorial Gunter Peel Funeral Home & Crematory is handling arrangements.

Helen was born February 27, 1925 in Columbus, MS to the late Emmett Mabry and Katherine Egger Perry. She attended S.D. Lee High School in Columbus and graduated in the Class of 1942. After attending Mississippi State College for Women (Now Mississippi University for Women) she married James Scott Hardy and lived in Columbus, Huntington, West Virginia, Greenwood, MS, Jackson, MS, and Memphis, TN before retiring with Jim to Columbus. Helen was a homemaker taking care of Jim and her three children, and, in later years, taught kindergarten in Memphis at Ridgeway Baptist Church for several years.

While in Columbus, Helen was a long-time member of First Baptist Church and actively involved in the Women’s Missionary Society. She was also a loyal volunteer to the Stephen D. Lee Home as the docent coordinator and was active in serving as a hostess during the annual Columbus Pilgrimage. Helen was also a member of the Pioneer Society of Columbus and Lowndes County, Mississippi, Bernard Romans Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and the Cherokee Garden Club.

In addition to her parents and husband, Helen was predeceased by her son, James Scott Hardy, Jr. and brothers Emmett M. Perry, Jr. and Harold Perry.

Helen is survived by her daughter Kay Hardy Walker (Rob) of Decatur, AL, son, Kirk David Hardy (Vicki) of Columbus, MS, grandchildren: Julia Walker Slack (Tyler) of Knoxville, TN, Sarah Katharine Walker of Charlotte, NC, David Hardy of Madison, MS, Natalie Hardy of Austin, TX, and William Hardy of Columbus, MS and great-grandchildren: John Tyler Slack, Walker Slack, and Mary Helen Slack of Knoxville, TN

Memorials may be made to First Baptist Church or the Stephen D. Lee Home in Columbus or the charity of the donor’s choice.