Retired Judge Passes Peacefully

December 28, 2010

Charles L. Hardy, a retired judge of the U. S. District Court, died peacefully on December 24, 2010. He was 92. Judge Hardy joined the Army as a private in 1941, attended Officer Candidate School and was promoted to 1st lieutenant. He was a member in the 18th Field Artillery and served during World War II in Normandy, Northern France, the Ardennes, the Rhineland, and Central Europe. Promoted to the office of captain, he received a Bronze Star before returning to Arizona in 1946.

Following his military service, Judge Hardy received his LLB at the University of Arizona College of Law in 1949.  From 1949 to 1966, Judge Hardy's legal career included time in private practice, as a deputy in the office of the Maricopa County Attorney, and as an assistant to the Arizona Attorney General.   Appointed by Governor Sam Goddard to the Maricopa County Superior Court bench in 1967, Judge Hardy served there until 1980. In 1979, President Jimmy Carter nominated Judge Hardy to fill a vacancy on the U.S. District Court. He was confirmed by the Senate and took the bench in 1980.

Services for Charles L. Hardy will be held December 30, 2010, at 10 a.m. at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Tempe Stake Center, 2707 S College Ave in Tempe. Visitation will be held December 29, 2010, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Tempe State Center and from 9 a.m. to 9:45 a.m. before the services on December 30th. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Mongolian Education Endowment Fund, c/o BYU Hawaii, 55-220 Kulanui St, Laie, HI 96762 or to the Perpetual Education Fund.

Notice submitted by Mr. Whitney Cunningham