Though she left the world too soon, Joanne Hardy, 62, left a mark with her signature humor and caring for her family, friends and former students. After a two and a half year battle with skin cancer and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Hardy passed away on Oct. 4.

"She was strongly Christian and believed deeply," said her husband Wayne Hardy, "but never pushed it on anybody and had the most incredible sense of humor about God and the world. She renewed my faith just being around her. She’s the strongest person I ever met. She had a wicked sense of humor, and I was usually the butt of it." She was very active in many of Smyrna Presbyterian Church’s outreach programs and the Food Bank.

Before she retired in 2004 from Clements Middle School in Covington as an assistant principal, Hardy, a Teacher of the Year, spent the bulk of her career teaching everything from math to social studies at several middle schools in Rockdale County. Wayne said her stint at The Alpha School was the "most enjoyable of her career." The challenge and reward of working with students many had given up on appealed to her. The Montreal native had a special empathy for her students, having flunked eighth grade herself.

"Many of my friends that had her as a teacher talked about her being one of their favorite teachers for mixing in humor while staying on them to get their work done," said her son Will. He appreciated the extra time her career afforded them to travel together during the summers. Renowned for her boisterous support of his athletic endeavors, he recalled Hardy regularly lost her voice. "My mother instilled in me the importance of education as well as taking the time to do things the right way in everything you do," said Will.

"She helped make the good that much sweeter and the bad less painful," said Marjorie Martin, her best friend of 40 plus years. Martin described Hardy as "a magnet" and her house was always a draw for people from all walks of life. Wayne said former students still show up on their doorstep when they hit a rough patch.

At Hardy’s memorial service, Martin ended her remembrances with this thought. "Joanne was, of course, sad her life was coming to a premature end. She said that until getting sick her life ‘was all so perfect.’ Perhaps we can take some comfort knowing she loved the life she had."

Hardy is survived by Wayne, her husband of 38 years, her son Will, daughter-in-law Michelle, grandson Charlie, and brothers Drew of Lawrenceville, David of Toronto, and Rob of Dryden, Ontario.