Emma Jane Mccarthy Hardy

Emma Jane McCarthy Hardy of Raleigh, age 93, died peacefully on Tuesday, October 8, 2019. Jane was born on December 23, 1925 in Robeson County, NC. Her parents, George William (“Pop”) McCarthy and Mary Ucille (“Mama Sue”) Bouknight McCarthy, had moved there from South Carolina. Jane was the eighth of eleven children born to Pop and Mama Sue. When Jane was young, her family moved from Robeson County to Clinton, and soon thereafter to Clayton. The older children helped raise the younger ones – Jane was especially fond of her youngest brother Larry. Music was always a part of family life. The radio always played, either for news or for music, and the children would gather around the piano to sing while their mother played by ear. The parents formed something of a song-writing team. Pop wrote poetry, and Mama Sue would set some of the poems to music. When Jane graduated from Clayton High School, she began her working life by taking a job at McClellan’s “dimestore” in Raleigh, selling ladies’ cosmetics for the grand salary of $11 per week. The family soon moved to Jacksonville, NC, where her father took a job with the newsman Billy Arthur. Arthur also hired Jane as a clerk at the Onslow County News and Views. She also worked as a clerk at the then-new Camp Lejeune during the war years. After the war, the family returned to Clayton, where Jane met fellow Johnston County resident Wright Hardy. A courtship was sparked, and Wright and Jane married in October of 1945. They set up housekeeping in Raleigh, where they remained for the rest of their lives. Jane had a long working career, both inside and outside the home. In addition to raising children and running the household, she worked for many years at the NC Fire Insurance Rating Bureau and later at the NC Board of Elections. Music remained a part of Jane’s life – she was an accomplished singer – and she passed that love of music to all her children. And she passed on her love of good Southern food and its preparation to her kids and virtually everyone she ever met. Jane was pre-deceased by Wright Hardy, her husband of more than seventy years, and by nine of her brothers and sisters. She is survived by her brother Larry McCarthy and his wife Nancy of Raleigh, her daughter Gayle Hardy Franks of Raleigh, her son Tom Hardy and his wife Miriam of Chapel Hill, her son Mark Hardy of Raleigh, seven grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, and an enormous number of nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends. The family wants to thank the staff of Carillon Assisted Living of North Raleigh, the Boylan Clinic, and the staff of Rex Hospital for their care of Jane. Jane was loved and will be remembered for many things, including her love for her family and friends, and her sense of fairness and justice for all, and her belief that love and kindness must prevail in humankind. We miss her terribly, but celebrate her long life, well lived. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that anyone wishing to honor Jane make a donation in her name to the Food Bank of Central Eastern North Carolina (foodbankcenc.org).