The Archdeacon of Pontefract writes:
IT IS a salutary experience, when reading the clerical obituaries
and deaths column in the Church Times, to realise that one
has either known or worked with those named: faithful parish
priests who said their prayers, loved their people, and did their
best. One such priest was the Revd Michael Hardy, who died on 5
January, aged 78.
In a varied ministry, which included time at USPG, where Desmond
Tutu was a colleague, and later a challenging ministry in
Stretford, Manchester, the golden thread that ran through his
service was a deep desire to bring people together, whatever their
colour, creed, or background, and to make ecumenism real.
Educated at Southend High School, Michael was a Keble man, and
then one of Robert Runcie's students at Cuddesdon. Well read in
both English and French, he wrote in a careful italic script, which
was beautiful to look at, but latterly not always that easy to
read.
Throughout his ministry, he was incredibly well supported by his
wife, Catherine, whom he met during his curacy in Birmingham, and
who had her own valued ministry as a midwife and counsellor; and by
their five children.