Patsy Braddy-Hardin

Patsy Jane Hardin passed away at the age of 84 on June 21, 2025. Born Patsy Jane Stephens, she came into this world on May 13, 1941. She was the fourth of eight children born into the family of Homer and Ruby Stephens in Peggs, Oklahoma. Patsy professed her faith and was a born-again Christian from an early age living a life with a deep commitment of faith, devoted to God and her family.

Her best friend introduced her to her husband’s Air Force buddy, Joe. They began as pen pals. On January 22, 1960, Patsy was united in marriage to Joe B. Braddy, which was the third time they had seen each other. They welcomed three children: Pamela Hedgpeth of Lenexa, Kansas, Christopher Braddy (deceased), and Kurtis Braddy (Cheryl) of Lake Mary, Florida. Joe was ordained in 1962, and the couple entered the ministry in 1962 where they served pastoring in several Free Will Baptist Churches across Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, and Iowa. Patsy was very active in the church as a Sunday School teacher, serving in the choir, actively involved in the Ladies Auxiliaries, as well as supporting FWB Home and Global Missions. She had a passion to work and minister to the elderly. Early on Patsy was a stay-at-home mom but later worked and retired in retails sales for Walmart.

Patsy was blessed with six grandchildren and was a proud grandmother of Karlie Braddy, Rachel Braddy, Lauren Braddy, Alex Hedgpeth (Kiley), Chessy Braddy, and Jarod Braddy, as well as great-grandmother to Christopher and Hudson McMahon, and Brynlee Braddy.

As a widow after 33 years of marriage with Joe in 1993, she settled in the Mountain Grove Area where she attended and became a member of the First Free Will Baptist Church. It was three years later she was introduced by a friend to Rev. Ura C. Hardin. They were united in marriage July 26, 1996, blending two families together in the autumn of their lives. They enjoyed retirement, the Mountain Grove FWB Church, Norwood and Mountain Grove Methodist Churches, traveling, family gatherings, Kiwanis Club, Eastern Star, and each other’s love and companionship for 29 years. Added to fill the remaining space in her heart were children, Sandra Belk (the late Derald Belk), David Hardin ( Laura), and Teresa Milligan (Phil) as well as grandchildren, Lisa Yarber (Jim), Greg Donley (Taryn), Rachel Hardin, Rebecca Hardin, Emily Byrd (Clayton), Sarah Pate (Josh) and great-grandchildren, Ashley Shipley (Dalton), Wesley Yarber, Savannah Patino (Jacob), Dalton Donley, Sophie Donley, Weston Pate, Charlotte Pate, Molly Byrd, Everley Byrd, and great-great-granddaughter, Iva Anne Shipley.

Patsy was preceded in death by her parents, brothers, Kenneth, Gary, Ray, and Larry, sister Shirley, husband, Rev. Joe Braddy, son, Christopher, son-in-law, Derald Belk, and lastly and most recent her husband, Rev. Ura Hardin just four months ago.

She will also be missed by many relatives and extended family from her family and her blended family as well as former daughter-in-law, Shannen McNett and special friend, Dixie Gaddis. A special thank you to the staff of Country Living Assisted Living and the Baptist Home of Ozark for their love and care over the past year.

Memorial contributions may be made to First Free Will Baptist Church of Mountain Grove in memory of Patsy.

EULOGY

PATSY J. HARDIN

JUNE 28, 2025

Kurt and I would like to thank all of you who took time out of your day to come and honor our mother.

I think it is unfortunate and somewhat futile that our custom to honor someone’s passing is to gather for an hour or so with an obituary, 3 or 4 songs, a few words to sum up one’s life, and in this case 84 years.

I’d like to share with you a few things about Mom you may not have known:

Mom was born in Peggs, Oklahoma, which is located on the Cherokee Reservation into a poverty-stricken family and the atmosphere that provided. Her grandmother was full blooded Cherokee, and her mother was half Cherokee. (This may explain her temper on occasion).

At an early age of 8 years old she began attending Sunday School. She was very close to her older brother, Gary. Mom told me many times about how she and Gary would ride some old bicycles to Sunday School. She was too little to get up on the bike, but she could reach the petals, so Gary would help her on the bicycle to get her started. They would ride to Sunday School. As they got closer to the church Gary would speed past her so that he could arrive first and then catch her and get her off the bicycle safely. This was the inception of her devotion to attending church and serving the Lord, and she practiced this for the majority of her life. I remember when we were kids it seemed like we had to be ill to the point of comatose to miss church.

The obituary mentioned that she married our Dad after being pen pals the third time they had seen each other in a dress that she was gifted by her brother Gary and his wife, Sandi. Who does that? She would have had a fit if one of us kids had done that. And, it lasted until Dad’s tragic, untimely death 33 years later. We all know that marriage is not all rainbows and butterflies, but my mother understood commitment in her first and second marriage.

Last week, many of the staff at the Baptist home, where she spent the last 8 weeks of her life, came in randomly during the final days to say good-bye. All of them had the same description of her. They used adjectives such as a sweet lady (which we all knew during the last 8 weeks that was all day until about 7 p.m. when the sun started going down), feisty, sassy, spunky, funny, and onery. Most of you that knew her would understand those words to be true.

Like all of us, Mom was not perfect. She could be strong-willed, hard-headed, and focused on her intentions. My mother had moxy.

Growing up, she was the disciplinarian for us kids. She introduced us all to the multiple uses of a tree such as the switch, and she provided us all the opportunity to pick our own switch for punishment on occasion. I would guess that our brother, Chris, became more of an Arborist than Kurt and me. Kurt and I can also thank Chris for empowering Mom to search out different ways of punishments to experiment with.

Mom was a hard worker, strong, and bold. Kurt and I remember an occasion when we lived in rural Arkansas when Mom had been helping a neighbor who owned a chicken house. Ernie, our neighbor, came over and had 20 or 30 chickens caged in his truck, and he began unloading the chicken cages in our back yard. Mom came in and told us all to stay inside, play, or watch TV, but to stay away from the windows. What happens when you tell 3 curious kids not to do something? We ran straight to the windows to sneak a peek. We heard the sound of an ax hit a stump, saw chickens running around with their heads cut off, and more blood than we had ever seen. I think we are both still traumatized from that day.

That same strong and fierce person who could help slaughter and clean a mess of chickens was the same person whose stomach was so weak she could not tend to her children when we were sick and were throwing up. That job went to Dad.

Mom always had a love for ice cream. Never have I remembered her ever turning down ice cream or a milk shake. In fact, during the last few months her reward after a procedure or doctor appointment was a milk shake—and she liked all flavors.

Mom hated cats most of her life, and I would say with passion. I remember her taking a whiffle ball bat and hitting and chasing a cat up a tree who was caught eating our dog’s food. When I was a teenager, our neighbor’s cat would hide under our vehicles. One day, I didn’t realize the cat was under my car and hit and killed it as I backed out. I went in to confess and let her know I had killed Shirley Bowden’s cat. Her sympathetic reply was “good, it saved me from doing it". That hatred of cats did go away when she moved to the farm. Ura wouldn’t allow a dog, but he loved farm cats. They had two or three over the years, but she was very attached to Billy, a ginger tabby, who lived way past a normal life span for cats.

And yet, this same woman, had a passionate heart. I remember many Christmas and Thanksgiving holidays as a kid when we had a host of guests. Many were those who were alone, less fortunate, or those who she knew were planning to spend the holiday alone. My parents made sure that didn’t happen.

When I was a teenager, I remember a woman attending our church. I don’t know if she was homeless or not, but she was obviously poor, struggling, and had personal hygiene issues. It’s our humanistic behavior to shy away from someone who smelled so bad. Even in church where it should be a place of kindness and safety, people were not friendly to her. No one would get close to her because of the body odor. Not my mother. She would go and sit next to this person every time this woman came to church. I couldn’t understand how my mother could sit there in the stench and smile and talk to this woman. My mother’s kindness and empathy for her showed just how much my mother was concerned about this woman and her salvation. I know, without a doubt, that my mother made a difference in this woman’s life if only for a short time.

Mom was also a survivor who experienced tragedy, like many of us, during her life. Her father, who was hospitalized, passed away the same day as her beloved brother, Gary and his wife, Sandi, who perished in the MGM Grand fire in November 1980 . Our father, Joe, was killed in a car accident, January of 1993. Our brother, Chris, passed away at the age of 39 in July 2005. But she continued. Most recently, her husband, Ura, passed away on March 5th this year.

Looking back, Mom seemed to have two lives. Her life growing up and married to our Dad, and the life she had married to Ura. Those lives were very different. I would describe the first to be happy, but full of struggles. My father’s passing came at a time when all her children were grown, and Dad’s absence left a void that she managed through. Her life with Ura was at a time when she retired and could enjoy and relax more. Mom was fortunate to find two men at the right times in her life who were devoted to God and loved her dearly. Both were ministers and taught school for a time. They were like minded, committed, and cherished her.

Mom was diagnosed with dementia in 2018. Ura’s passing was an event that rocked her. His effect on her was probably not noticed or totally appreciated as he cared for her and kept her going and on track as much as he could as dementia caused more deterioration.

Her declining health in the last few years was a struggle for her, but she was unwavering in her faith. There was no gray area for Mom when it came to Christianity and her personal relationship with God. If there is one thing she would want me to say today is that Jesus is the only Way and to persuade to accept him as your personal savior. This is an example of how one’s mind and thoughts change or adapt over the years.

We are saddened for the loss, but we know where Mom is and we are happy for her to be in heaven with the God that she served so diligently. She is not in pain and her mind is clear. I don’t know how it works in heaven when you’ve been widowed twice and you see your loved ones in heaven, but what I do know is that Mom, with the help of Dorothy, will quickly sort it out.

Pam Hedgpeth