Tucker, Georgia High School Class of 1962
Bill Hardin (William Clark Hardin, Jr., P.E.)
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9th Grade |
10th Grade |
11th Grade |
12th Grade |
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Bill transferred to Tucker High School from Atlanta's Murphy High School after the completion of the 9th grade. At Whiteford Elementary School and Murphy High School, Bill was an "A" student and model citizen. He was a lieutenant on the school safety patrol. Bill played Little League baseball and Gra Y football. Bill earned money by cutting grass and delivering the Atlanta Journal newspaper to 120 households. He spent many weekends fishing and camping with his dad, hunted birds with his trusty bb gun, and when his family visited relatives in the "country", spent as much time as he was allowed with his Dad's 22 rifle. Summer mornings were spent at Candler Park swimming pool, where children under 12 were allowed to swim free from 9am to noon. When Bill had 25 cents, he spent all day Saturday, during the Summer, at the "air conditioned" movie theaters in either Little-Five-Points, or Kirkwood. Bill learned to ride a bike before he was barely tall enough to reach the pedals and seldom walked, when he could ride his bike somewhere. Bill was baptized at the Whiteford Baptist church and seldom missed Sunday School and Church and attended vacation bible school each year. Life in Atlanta was consistent and pleasant, with many of the same cousins and friends living in the same neighborhood for those 14 years. Bill's dad was a mechanic and his mother worked various jobs making shoes, hats or draperies. Bill has one sister, Diane, who graduated from THS in 1967. Bill was a cub scout, reaching the rank of bear. He went onto boy scouts, where he earned the rank of star scout. Bill grew up being told by his father that he would attend Georgia Tech and become an engineer - and never doubting it. Bill had severe ear infections as a baby and infant and, as a result, always had a hearing handicap and developed a speech impediment that was so severe that strangers could not understand what he was saying. This speech impediment was cured through speech therapy classes. The family only had one car, which his dad took to work. Doctor appointments and shopping were done by using the Atlanta trolley system.
In the spring of 1959, the Hardin family moved to Oak Avenue in Tucker. Bill's cousin, Hugh, spent much of that summer visiting from his home in Nashville, Tennessee. Hugh, who had an outgoing personality, helped Bill, who was painfully shy, make friends that summer and much time was devoted to flirting with the neighborhood girls. Bill joined Tucker Baptist Church and met many future classmates in Sunday School that summer. Nyal Clayton and Larry Wilson invited Bill to play pitch. Bill and his wife, Patricia Freeman, first took note of each other that summer in Tucker Baptist Church.
The three years at Tucker High School had a profound effect on Bill. He overcame much of his shyness, but unfortunately forgot how to study. Those years were spent dating, going to football games, learning to drive, playing chess with Gary Eason, discussing conundrums about parents and girls with Danny Carter, hanging out with Tony McDonald, learning about the female anatomy from David Greenway, learning about gambling from Gerry Hazelriggs, skipping church with Mike Hinesly, going "fishing" with Gerald Jones so we could smoke cigarettes - but actually catching a large bass, experiencing fast cars and loud mufflers with Lamar Banks, and much more. To quote Dennis Meyers, everyday was like an eposode of "Happy Days". Bill continued earning spending money by cutting grass in the neighborhood until he learned about the big money opportunities offered by Colonial Food Stores on Main street. There he worked throughout high school as a bag boy and stock clerk extraordinaire. It was not long before Bill fell in love with Pat Freeman. After much pursuit and several false starts, he convinced her to "go steady" and eventually they were married. This relationship with Pat reduced the time Bill spent with the "guys" and so Bill missed out when many of his classmates were apprehended by the police for playing "tire" on I-85 at Shallowford road. That is not to say that Bill didn't find time to join the guys at the end of the Junior year to prank the school. The "Chief" thought that the dummy , representing the principal, that Bill and Tony made and ran up the flag pole was funny. The teachers felt that the sign placed on top of the roof that read "See Rock City" was also innocent enough. The "mighty mights" scattered on the floor of the school and a few more dastardly deeds resulted in Bill, Pat Sparks, and a few others having a three day vacation from school shortly thereafter. The Senior trip to Camp Rutledge also provided Bill and many others in the class with the opportunity to create memories that we will never be able to share with our children and grandchildren.
After graduating from THS, Bill entered Georgia Tech. He was rudely awakened to life away from THS. The professors at Tech didn't know that Bill was an "A" student, and gave him the grades that he deserved rather than the grades to which he imagined he was entitled. Bill eventualled figured it out and graduated. It took getting married and having two children to teach him the importance of that education, however. Bill worked at Scientific-Atlanta to support himself and his family while he attended Georgia Tech. Nine years after starting college, he graduated. Those last few years at Tech, Bill had several 4.0 quarters. So he eventually proved that he actually was an "A" student. Later in life, Bill received his MBA from UNCC, by attending four years of night courses. Bill Graduated with highest honors from that program and was a member of the Beta Gamma Sigma honor society. Bill is a licensed "Professional Engineer" in the states of South Carolina, Alabama and North Carolina.
Bill's hobbies are golf and computers. Pat's primary hobby is genealogy. They both like to travel and take every opportunity to visit new places.
After college, Bill and family spent one year at Newport News Ship Building and Dry Dock Company in Virginia, two years at a engineering consulting company in Spartanburg South Carolina, two years at a dental equipment manufacturing company in Bay Minette Alabama before a sixteen year career at another dental equipment manufacturing company in Charlotte North Carolina. From there Bill was a VP of operations for an X-Ray machine manufacturer and then worked for two companies that manufactured textile machinery. Since 2005, Bill has worked for himself, with one primary software client.
Bill and Pat have two sons and two granddaughters. The oldest son, Todd, is a VP for an architectural firm in Dallas Texas where he lives with his wife, Michelle. Todd's younger brother, Steve, lives in Richmond Hill, Georgia with his wife, Jennifer. Like all grandparents, Bill and Pat think that their granddaughters, Rose and Lily, are wonderful.
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 Bill and Pat 1963 |
 Bill and Pat 1964 |
 Bill and Pat 1977 |
 Bill and Pat 1982 |
 Bill and Pat 1996 |
 Bill and Pat 2005 |
 Bill and Pat 2005 |
 Bill and Pat 2009 |
 Michelle and Todd |
 Todd, Steve and JoNan's son Chuck |
 Lily, Steve, Jennifer and Rose |
 Rose |
 Rose and Lily |
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