Celebrating the Life of Laurine Hardie

April 18, 1928  -  July 25, 2002

Laurine Hardie (nee Woytkiw) Circa 1949

Biography

Laurine Woytkiw was born in Vegreville, Alberta, Canada and was raised in Mundare and Edmonton.  She received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Alberta and a Master's degree from Washington State University, where she met her future husband William Hardie.  She worked doing nutrition research at the University for two years, and then moved with her husband to Terre Haute, Indiana, where her three children Thomas, Darlene and William were born.  For one year she worked as a Consumer Education Agent and did TV shows, radio shows and had a weekly column in two newspapers.

Her family then moved to Amityville, Long Island, New York where she took classes to become a certified teacher.  She went on to teach for 23 years and became department chairperson.

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A Daughter's Prayers

by Darlene Hardie-Muncy

As a teen, I prayed...
"God, don't let me grow up to be my mother!  So 'out-of-touch' and 'not with it'."
Thirty years later and a mother myself, I pray...
Dear God, help me to become even half the mother and person that my Mom was.
Mom...

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Tribute to Laurine

By William G. Hardie

I'm Bill Hardie, the son of Laurine, and I want to share some aspects of my mother's life that not all of you may be aware of before today.

My mother, Laurine, was somewhat of a pioneer in her day and was clearly a woman ahead of her time.  She grew up in a rural part of northern Alberta, Canada.  It was sufficiently rural that a part of the education process was learning how to avoid moose and elk in rut that would chase them on the way to school, and yet Laurine endured, finished school, and went to college, which was a rarity in that area at that time.

She graduated from the University of Alberta and then, was a pioneer again, when she left Canada and went on to graduate school at Washington State University, where she got a Masters of Science in nutrition.  It was at Washington State that she met the love of her life, Bill Hardie.  They formed a bond that was based on love and a true mutual respect that lasted until the end of each of their lives.  Laurine brought drive, determination and planning to the relationship, and as you will see, Bill brought an unrivaled sense of humor and creativity which was passed on to their children.

Laurine was ahead of her time again as she took on a career as a multimedia star in Terre Haute, Indiana in the early fifties.  She had a television show with Jerry Van Dyke, a radio spot and a weekly newspaper column on cooking and nutrition.  She was a forerunner to future media queens like Martha Stewart and Oprah.  Unfortunately, at that time it just didn't come with Oprah money or Martha stock tips.

When Bill's job relocated here to New York, she remained undaunted and developed a new career as a teacher of Home Economics.  She was one of the early pioneers of dual career families and we became the first generation of latch key kids.  This was a great developmental opportunity for her children and made each of us a strong, independent, responsible and capable adult.  Laurine was a teacher in the same school for 24 years.  She became an outstanding teacher, who recognized and tapped into the potential of her students, even if they couldn't recognize that talent themselves, whether it was related to home economics or some other area of life. 

She taught literally thousands of students how to cook.  There is an old adage that my father frequently quoted which was "Those who can do; those who can't teach."  Speaking as one who had the opportunity to sample many of Laurine's experimental recipes, maybe it's best that she focused on teaching.

Laurine's final pioneering effort was as a retiree.  She was an early adopter of computers for her age group and volunteered as either secretary or treasurer for a number of local charities and foundations.  Despite the fears of her children, Laurine thrived after the death of her husband.  She became even more active in paying back to the community.

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Poem I Wrote for Grandma
When She Was Sick

By Erica Muncy, Age 11

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Why I Love my Grandma

By Paige Muncy, Age 7

My name is Paige Muncy and I want to tell you why I love my Grandma.

I love Grandma:

Because she takes me to the park.

Because she reads me stories.

Because she makes me special things.

Because she bakes cookies with me.

Because she brings me presents.

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If

By Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

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A Poem in Memory of the Ukrainian Catholic Women's League of Canada

By Nellie Woytkiw 1981

Give me wide walls to build my house of Life.

The North shall be of Love against the winds of fate,

The South shall be of Tolerance that I may outreach hate.

The East of Faith that rises clear and new each day,

The West of Hope that never dies in a glorious way.

The Threshold 'neath my feet shall be Humility,

The Roof the very sky itself - Infinity.

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THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD (PSALM 23)

Though I walk in the vale of death's shadow,
I fear not, with You at my side.
Thy rod and Thy staff, they do comfort me.
Through the veil of death, God is my guide.

2. God prepareth a table before me
in the presence of my deadly foe.
He annointeth my head with fine oil.
My cup, with His love, overflows.

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