Jeanette Donaghy Hardin

Jeanette Mason Donaghy Hardin passed away at age 88 on June 27, 2012, in Atlanta. “Bonnie Jean” was born in Glasgow, Scotland, on December 2, 1923. She was raised in Glasgow and in Moodiesburn, where her Granny Mason, the matriarch of the family, lived. Jean joined the Land Army when war started in earnest in 1940, and worked on several farms in Ayrshire, rising at 4:30, feeding chickens, milking cows and driving tractors, all 5’0″ and 100 pounds of her.
In the spring of 1943 she was on a small bus from Beith going into Glasgow to see the movies and met a young American soldier, William Russell Hardin,”Bill”, from Birmingham, Alabama. They were married in October of 1943, with their first child born in August, 1944. With the end of the war, the army returned Bill home to Birmingham in October of 1945. In February of 1946, Jean and her toddler son said goodbye to family in Scotland and took the train from Glasgow to Southhampton. She crossed the Atlantic on the Queen Mary with thousands of other “war brides” to start her life in the new world, far away from family and the land she felt connected to all her life. Jean raised four children and saw them all go off to Auburn University. She always took great pride in their lives, families and accomplishments. She was greatly beloved by her children, grand and great grandchildren, and many relatives in Scotland.
Jean was a long time member of Woodlawn United Methodist Church in Birmingham, and was active in teaching Sunday School, youth programs and in choir. After Bill’s death in 1984, she lived in Auburn and Montgomery, Alabama, and in Sandy Springs, Georgia. She was preceded in death by her husband, her daughter, Meg Fraser Hardin Wesley, and two half-sisters, Marjorie Coutts of Glasgow and Elizabeth Coutts Gamble of Inchinnan, Scotland.
Survivors include her half-brothers Charles Coutts of Cumbernauld, Scotland and Jim Coutts of Glasgow, her children and their spouses, Ian Russell Hardin Carol McKay of Athens, Georgia, Claudia Hardin Pike Raymond of Montgomery, Alabama, and Patrick Alan Hardin Genie of Sandy Springs, Georgia, and her son-in-law, Homer Wesley III Marion of Colorado Springs, Colorado. Her grandchildren are Wendy Hardin Hermann Steve of Chicago, Kristine Pike Sizemore Alton of Birmingham, Melanie Pike Nicholls Christopher of Dothan, Ala., Scott Hardin of Atlanta, Andrew Hardin of Atlanta, Devon Wesley Tim Whelan of Boston, Sean Hardin Elisa of Sandy Springs, Maggie Wesley of Denver, and Blair Wesley and Will Wesley of Colorado Springs, Colorado. Great grandchildren are Lucy, Nicholas and Helen Hermann of Chicago, Nathan, Will and Andrew Nicholls of Dothan, Alabama, Mary Catherine and Daniel Sizemore of Birmingham, Alabama, and Anna Caroline Hardin of Sandy Springs, Georgia.
A memorial service for Jean – for family and friends – will be held on July 28 at 4:00 pm in Auburn, Alabama, at Founder’s Chapel of Auburn United Methodist Church with an informal reception afterward. Her ashes will be interred in the Auburn Memorial Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, those who wish might consider contributing to the American Cancer Society in her memory.