F.B. Hardy graduated from Cincinnati School of Mortuary Science in 1919. He worked in his father’s business, The F.H. Hardy Undertaking Company in West Point, Kentucky. Following the death of his father in 1925, F.B. set off to carry out his trade. He stepped off a train at a stop in Smiths Grove, Kentucky, to buy some breakfast. He walked down the street, thinking he rather liked this little town. He passed a sign that read, “Funeral Home for Sale,” and, as they say, the rest is history. In 1926, F.B. Hardy began business in Smiths Grove, Kentucky.
The funeral home in Smiths Grove became a family business in 1950, when F.B.’s son, William B. Hardy (Bill, Sr.) graduated from The Kentucky School of Mortuary Science. He joined his father in his work at the funeral home in Smiths Grove. W.B. and his wife, Mary Lou, expanded the business when they opened a Bowling Green location in the former residence of Duncan Hines. In 1968, W.B. and Mary Lou’s son, Bill Hardy, Jr., a licensed funeral director, joined the family business.
Today, Bill, Jr. operates the business with the same traditions of integrity, compassion, honesty and care his father established in 1926. Bill is a licensed funeral director and helps to plan services, keeping the family’s needs and desires in mind.
Bill has surrounded himself with members from the community who maintain the strong principles that F.B. Hardy believed were necessary in the early days of the business.
Will Hardy, III works alongside his father to learn about the business and is the fourth generation carrying on the same dedicated service that F.B. Hardy believed in.
-submitted by Hardy & Son Funeral Homes
