Alice M. Hardy

Alice M. (Damery) Hardy, 93, a long-time resident of Carlisle, MA, died May 4th surrounded by her loved ones.

Alice was born in Boston on July 31, 1932. She was the daughter of the late Clarence J. and Hazel V. (Ericsson) Damery. She was raised in Cambridge and Arlington before moving to Bedford, and graduated from Lexington High School in 1950. She was the captain of the girls’ basketball team, which was undefeated and won the state championship, an accomplishment of which she was very proud. She was very much involved in planning her high school reunions every year.

After high school she went on to get her degree at a Salvation Army hospital as a licensed practical nurse and worked for many years at Emerson Hospital on the pediatric unit. Alice was a superb nurse, often training new RNs, and was respected by the doctors. Every year Alice would bring monarch caterpillars in so the patients could watch them change into butterflies. Her years on Pediatrics at Emerson were so rewarding that soon after retirement she began volunteering in the Emergency Department.

She married the love of her life, Gordon J. Hardy, a home builder who built many houses in the Middlesex County area. They settled in Bedford and then Carlisle, where they raised their three sons, Nelson, Duane and Kevin. Alice and Gordon were supportive and adventurous, traveling the country on summer vacations and camping with friends, of which there were many. They had a special connection to Prince Edward Island, Canada, where Gordon was raised and where he built a summer house on the shore.

She enjoyed art projects including painting and ceramics. She loved to bake and was an excellent cake decorator. She loved throwing parties and hosted the relatives’ Christmas party in her home every year. Family was very important to her and these parties helped keep her family close. She also always hosted the Wheeler 4 Christmas party so that her many friends from Emerson Hospital could get together.

Alice was an exceptionally active person. She was an avid runner, hiker and cross country skier. She ran the Bonne Bell 10k in Boston for several years and did the 20 mile Walk for Hunger for five years. She was still walking two miles every day when she was in her 90s. While at the Kennedy Meadows senior living community, she introduced her fellow residents to chair volleyball. She was reportedly quite competitive.

After retirement, she and Gordon spent winters in Florida visiting relatives and friends, biking and walking the beach collecting shells. They enjoyed taking their two granddaughters, Melanie and Bailey, camping on the Cape and Normandy Park. They loved travelling the world, which they did often.

Alice is survived by her son Nelson G. Hardy with his wife Susan, and her son Kevin J. Hardy with his husband Thomas Doyle. She is also survived by her granddaughter Dr. Melanie F. Hardy Skeberdis with her husband Daniel, her granddaughter Bailey K. Hardy, her brother-in-law Sterling Hardy with his wife Norma, and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband Gordon, her son Duane, and her siblings Barbara, Joseph and William Damery.

A celebration of her life will be held at a later date and her burial will be private. It is an understatement to say she will be missed by all who knew her, especially her best friends Morgan, Barb, Fran and Judy who were with her to the very end.

If you would like to donate to a charity in Alice’s memory, please consider the Cure Epilepsy Foundation or childsplaycharity.org, which delivers therapeutic games and technology directly to pediatric hospitals.

Arrangements have been entrusted to Dee Funeral Home & Cremation Service of Concord.