Clara Lenora Pinnell Hardesty, 88, of Alderson, WV, passed away Tuesday, June 6, 2017, at The Brier Rehabilitation & Nursing Center in Ronceverte, WV, following a short illness.
Born October 19, 1928, in Alderson, she was the daughter of Emmett Owen Pinnell Sr. and Flossie Woolwine Pinnell.
Mrs. Hardesty graduated from Alderson High School in 1947 and attended classes at West Virginia Wesleyan College in Buckhannon, WV, and Concord College in Athens, WV. She worked at Alderson’s Store for three years, then went to work as a correctional officer at the Federal Bureau of Prisons in Alderson and worked there from 1955-65. Following her employment with the Federal Bureau of Prisons, she was a reading aide, physical fitness instructor, and kindergarten aid from 1966-89, having worked at Alderson Elementary and Lewisburg Elementary, retiring from the Greenbrier County Board of Education after 23 years of service. Following her retirement, she substituted and taught art at Alderson Elementary, as well as tutored after school.
Mrs. Hardesty was a lifelong member of the Old Greenbrier Baptist Church in Alderson, where she was a deaconess, Sunday School teacher, and served on the hospitality committee. She was a longtime member of the Alderson Fourth of July Committee, a founding member of the Alderson Community Center, was a member of Alderson Chapter #119 Order of Eastern Star, and was a former member of the Woman’s Club of Alderson.
Mrs. Hardesty loved crafts of all kinds. She made baskets, crocheted, knitted, and painted. She especially enjoyed doing the art work for the Alderson Fourth of July Celebration and painting pictures of the town of Alderson.
In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Edward Paul Hardesty; son, Frederick Spencer Hardesty; and a brother, Emmett Owen Pinnell Jr.
Survivors include a daughter, Rebecca Anne “Sunshine” Pence and husband, Boyd; a brother, Richard Owen Pinnell; a daughter-in-law, Joanne Elizabeth Hardesty Lightner; three sisters-in-law, Sarah Jane Costa and husband, Lewis, Betty Pinnell Smith and husband, John, and Kay Hardesty; brother-in-law, Jack Hardesty and wife, Margaret; three grandchildren, Kristina Leigh Pence Sager, Kenneth Paul Pence, and Sydnee Hardesty; five great-grandchildren, Leah and Brandon Schoonover, Mathew Pence, and Deion and Asher Hardesty; and many nieces and nephews.
Funeral services are slated for Friday, June 9, 2017, at 2 PM at the Lobban Funeral Home Chapel in Alderson with the Revs. Dr. Bill Bryan and Gary Baker officiating. Burial will follow at the Alderson Cemetery.
Friends may call Friday from 1-2 PM at the funeral home.
Family and friends will serve as pallbearers.
Lobban Funeral Home in Alderson is in charge of arrangements.
Obituary originally published in the June 8, 2017, edition of The West Virginia Daily News.
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