Evelyn Louise Hardin's Obituary
On August 6, 1934, Evelyn was born to Edward and Maisealina Merritt and due to health reasons was raised by Austin and Hazel Harris, first cousins of Maisealina so she was fortunate to have had two sets of parents until their passings in the 1960's and 1970's.
Evelyn grew up on the South Side of Chicago where she attended McCosh Elementary School then Englewood High School until she headed off to college. She attended the University of Illinois, Champaign Urbana where she pledged Delta Sigma Theta and ultimately earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Northwestern University, Evanston IL.
In 1954 she married her life partner James Raymond Hardin (1931-2009) and had two children, James Carleton and Lisa Renee. She eventually had grandchildren Gene and Yvette then great grandchildren Chandler and Camryn.
Evelyn had an interesting life. After graduation, she immediately began working as an Educator for the Chicago Board of Education school system where she remained for 19 years. Then suddenly her husband was offered an amazing opportunity, so in 1975 they let his career led them to Dallas, TX. Not only did she sacrifice her job stability, but she also left a lifetime of friends and families behind. However, Evelyn embraced her new life, she met new friends and built relationships. She dabbled in different professions, even sold door to door insurance which taught her how to navigate Dallas streets and its newly built suburbs. In 1977, she joined Corporate America as an Educator/IT Manager at Control Data. Evelyn remained as an employee, through many mergers and acquisitions for over 30 years and eventually retired from NASD [National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc.] at the age of 70.
During her retirement years she volunteered secretarial services at various organizations, like the Leonard Jones Junior Minority Golf Foundation and her own Community Association for McShann Road. Evelyn lived a fulfilled life, embracing every challenge with positivity. Not only was she an outstanding wife and the best mother one could ask for - she was also an exceptional grandmother! Her love and support knew no bounds. She lovingly devoted many years of her life to ensure that each grandchild had access to good schools and a college education. With her grandchildren being 10 years apart, she lovingly devoted many years of her life making sure that happened. This is a testament to her foresight and unwavering commitment to help provide them with life’s best opportunities and experiences. She played a pivotal role in shaping their lives and futures, leaving an enduring legacy of her love, care and selflessness.
Simply put, Evelyn was a beautiful person, she was kind, loyal, smart, funny, patient, loving, generous and every positive adjective you can think of. She will be sorely missed by a host of family, friends, and neighbors.
Evelyn's life will be celebrated at 2:00PM on Friday, September 15, 2023, in the Wildwood Chapel at Restland Memorial Park.
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