Harlan Ard

Published 12:00 am Friday, February 19, 2010

Funeral services for Harlan Ard, 84, of Donalsonville, Ga., will be held on Monday, Feb. 22, at 11 a.m. at Reynolds Chapel United Methodist Church in Donalsonville with the Rev. Donna Sue Roberts officiating.

Interment will follow at 3 p.m. Monday at Tallahassee Memory Gardens in Tallahassee, Fla., with full military honors and members of the U.S. Air Force Honor Guard serving as casketbearers.

Visitation will be held Sunday, Feb. 21, from 4 to 6 p.m. at Evans-Skipper Funeral Home.

Email newsletter signup

Born Nov. 25, 1925, in Geneva, Ala., Mr. Ard died on Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2010, at Southeast Alabama Medical Center in Dothan, Ala.

Mr. Ard graduated from Geneva High School and then went on to further his education at the University of Alabama, receiving a bachelor’s degree in accounting. Mr. Ard continued to serve his country in the U.S. Air Force as a pilot. He retired from the Air Force in November of 1985 as a major, having flown during World War II as a navigator. He had been invited to be a part of the National World War II Honor Flight to Washington, D.C., scheduled for later this year.

Mr. Ard was also a retired educator and a retired auditor with the State of Florida Environmental Protection Agency. Mr. Ard was an active member of the Donalsonville Lions Club, the American Legion Post No. 157, the Salem Lodge No. 267 in Desser, the 5th District Master of Warden’s Association, and the Reynolds Chapel Men’s Club. He was also a former member of the Marzuq Shrine Temple in Tallahassee, Fla. Mr. Ard had been an active member of Reynolds Chapel United Methodist Church. He enjoyed gardening and was an avid baseball card collector. For the past 10 years, he had enjoyed feeding the fish off of his dock at Lake Seminole.

He was preceded in death by his parents; one son, Walter Keith Ard; a sister, Betty Padgett; and a brother, Watha Ard.

Survivors include his wife, Elaine Ard of Donalsonville; three daughters, Susan Hall of Bay Minette, Ala., Terri Ard of Havana, Fla., and Kellie Caswell of Tallahassee, Fla.; three sons Harlan Ard Jr. of Chattahoochee, Fla., Dan Ard of Havana, Fla., and Kenneth Tucker of Tampa, Fla.; 12 grandchildren and a granddaughter on the way; numerous great-grandchildren; as well as several nieces and nephews.

Evans-Skipper Funeral Home in Donalsonville is in charge of the arrangements.