Susan Hardt

SUSAN "SUSIE" HARDT

Cedar Rapids

On the afternoon of Aug. 12, 2015, surrounded by her family, Susan passed away at home in Fairmont, Minn., due to compli-cations from a stroke. Susan was 85 years old. Her body was donated to the University of Iowa for

medical research.

Susan "Susie" Marion Pauline Sharp was born Sept. 9, 1929, in Greenview, Ill., and was the fourth child and third daughter of Owen Carl and Vallie Fern (Freeman) Sharp.

She attended school in the Springfield, Ill., area until the family moved to

Wyoming for her father's work as a coal miner. When the family returned to Illinois, Susan stayed in Rock Springs to complete her high school education where she lived above the firehouse with her best friend, Shirley Cuth-bertson, and her family.

After graduating from Rock Springs High School in 1948, she returned to Springfield and was a secretary at Kyanize Paint while attending Brown's Business School. In 1955, she married Richard T. Hanson, and together they had five children.

Susan and her children relocated to Chicago for her work in the travel industry. While working there, she met Marlin Hardt. They were married in 1967 and the family moved to Swea City, Iowa.

Her new neighbor, Doreen Hansen, taught her how to cook and how to be a good farm wife. Susan and Marlin traveled to Asia, South America and Central America as well as Hawaii while raising her children and working on the farm. In her spare time, she often promoted tours through the Lone Rock Bank for the Iowa Bankers Association.

She returned to Chicago and continued her travel adventures by leading tours to mainland China, Turkey and India. China was her favorite country to visit, and she shared stories of its people, culture and history to anyone who would listen.

For the last 12 years, Susan lived with Evy-Ann in Cedar Rapids and helped raise her two youngest granddaughters. Since January, she lived with Pat and Bobbie in Fairmont, Minn.

The Fox News Channel will miss her. When not watching politics, she was reading the daily newspaper and keeping up with current events.

Susan was beloved by all and made friends easily– sometimes alarmingly so. Her spontaneous singing and dancing made her the life of the party and always wonderful to be around. Her response to "I love you" was singing "I love you a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck."

Susan was preceded in death by her parents; sisters, Barbara Mae, Mary and Evelyn; brother, Owen Jr.; son-in-law, Larry Tina; and nieces and a nephew, Judy, Becky and Bobby.

She is survived by her twin sons, Patrick (Bobbie) Hardt of Fairmont, Minn., and Phillip (Kay) Hardt of Swea City; daughters, Mary Tina Angle of Swea City, Penny Lee of Roscoe, Ill., and Evy-Ann Bajet of Cedar Rapids; stepchildren, Jim (Craig) Goff-Hardt of Las Vegas, Nev., Bob (Ikie) Hardt of Des Moines and Pat (Chuck) Schultz of Welcome, Minn.; 10 grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren; brother, Leo of Chicago; two best friends, Shirley and Doreen; and several nieces, nephews and cousins.

A celebration of life will be held at the United Methodist Church in Swea City on Sept. 13 at 2 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation in Susan's memory to the University of Iowa Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology.