[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 5]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 6635-6636]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       REMEMBERING JACK HARDESTY

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. FRANK R. WOLF

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 30, 2014

  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and remember Jack 
Hardesty, a longstanding community leader in Clarke County, Virginia, 
who passed away April 15, 2014 at the age of 82.
  John Douglas ``Jack'' Hardesty's family has long standing ties to 
Clarke County dating back to the 1780s. He chose to continue this 
legacy as an entrepreneur who worked to further his community.
  Jack may be best known for his work on the Board of Supervisors, 
serving 17 years as chairman. He also served on the Board of Directors 
for the Bank of Clarke County, was a trustee for his church and member 
of the Berryville-Clarke Chamber of Commerce. Jack was named ``Citizen 
of the Year'' this year by the Top of Virginia Regional Chamber for his 
lifetime of service.
  Jack had an incredible impact on Clarke County, organizing the 
county's first Comprehensive Plan, as well as his efforts to preserve 
historic farmland and open space in the

[[Page 6636]]

county. Through his work he has left an indelible mark on the look and 
feel of his community.
  Jack's accomplishments in agriculture were also well known. He was 
recognized as the Outstanding Young Farmer for Virginia in 1955, and 
later as Distinguished Dairyman of the Year in 1986.
  Jack is survived by his two sons, John and David, who are both part 
of his family dairy business. I know he will be missed dearly by both 
his family and the community as a whole.
  I submit the following article from The Winchester Star of Mr. 
Hardesty's story.

               [From the Winchester Star, Apr. 17, 2014]

                  Community Leader Jack Hardesty Dies

                           (By Val Van Meter)

       Berryville.--A man who is credited for shaping the way 
     Clarke County looks today died Tuesday after a life of 
     service.
       John Douglas ``Jack'' Hardesty, 82, was an entrepreneur 
     before that word was the height of compliment. But, while 
     building his family's fortunes, he also aimed to do what was 
     best for his community.
       ``He has had a tremendous influence on how the county looks 
     and feels,'' said Michael Hobert, current chairman of the 
     Board of Supervisors, a post Hardesty held for the better 
     part of two decades.
       ``He was responsible for the county's first Comprehensive 
     Plan,'' Hobert noted. That plan is the community's vision on 
     how it wants to develop into the future.
       ``He helped to establish our identity, and we'll have that 
     identity for a long time into the future.''
       His support to institute sliding-scale zoning helped 
     preserve farmland and open space in the county and set a tone 
     that has continued today.
       Hardesty's family roots in Clarke County go back to the 
     1780s, and farming was all he wanted to do.
       In high school, his senior classmates predicted that, 
     within 10 years of their 1950 graduation, he would be milking 
     100 head of Holsteins. They weren't far off the mark.
       He formed a partnership with his father and began building 
     Harvue Dairy, which grew from a 25-head, hand-milked herd to 
     a diary producing millions of pounds of milk a year and 
     shipping the genetics of its registered Holsteins all over 
     the world.
       His importance to agriculture was recognized in 1955, when 
     he was named the Outstanding Young Farmer for Virginia, and 
     it only continued to grow. In 1986 the Virginia State 
     Dairyman's Association named him Distinguished Dairyman of 
     the Year.
       As a member of the Clarke County Ruritan Club, Hardesty was 
     ``very instrumental'' in purchasing the land for the Clarke 
     County Ruritan fairgrounds.
       The purchase was arranged in 1960, said Billy Milleson, who 
     chairs the annual Clarke County Fair for the Ruritan Club.
       ``He and his dad ran the dairy department at the fair for 
     years,'' Milleson said.
       He said Hardesty was one of the people who saved the 
     fairgrounds when the Virginia Department of Transportation 
     planned to put the Harry Byrd Highway bypass around 
     Berryville. Their preferred route took it right through the 
     fairgrounds, demolishing the grove of huge oak trees that 
     give it so much of its character.
       Hardesty, Milleson said, ``went to Richmond and got it 
     changed.''
       ``He was an authentic man,'' Hobert added. He was genuine. 
     He had integrity and good judgment.''
       Former state Sen. Russell Potts Jr. called Hardesty the 
     consummate gentleman.
       ``He was Mr. Clarke County,'' Potts said, adding that 
     Hardesty got into political life ``for all the right 
     reasons.''
       In 1965, Hardesty was appointed to fill the unexpired term 
     of the Russell Voting District representative Bob Withers on 
     the Board of Supervisors.
       A year later, he ran for election and won. He remained on 
     the board for the next 29 years, serving 17 as chairman.
       ``The quality of life in Clarke County is a direct result 
     of him insisting on high standards,'' Potts said. ``He loved 
     preservation,'' and the beauty of Clarke County.
       Milleson said one of Hardesty's greatest characteristics 
     was that he was a good listener.
       ``He could see the other side,'' he added.
       In 1963, the stockholders of the Bank of Clarke County 
     selected him to serve on the board of directors. In 1986, he 
     stepped into the chairmanship, replacing the late Eustace 
     Jackson, who had also preceded Hardesty as chairman of the 
     Clarke supervisors.
       Johnny Milleson, president of the Bank of Clarke, recalled 
     Hardesty was always proud of his county and the bank, which 
     grew from two branches, one in Berryville and one in Boyce, 
     to 11 branches, including nine in Winchester and Frederick 
     County.
       He said when the two attended a seminar in North Carolina 
     one year, people in the room were announcing their names and 
     how long they had been directors of their respective banks.
       Most were less than five years, but one man was cheered for 
     serving 21.
       He said Hardesty winked at him before announcing he'd been 
     on the board of the ``best little bank in the state of 
     Virginia'' for 41 years at that time.
       The bank president said Hardesty was ``a part of the bank 
     family until his passing.''
       At Christmas, Hardesty would circulate through all the bank 
     branches. ``He had a kind word for everyone,'' and knew 
     everyone.
       He added that he had gone to school with Hardesty's older 
     son, Johnny, and had known the elder Hardesty ``since I can 
     remember. He always had time for you, no matter how busy he 
     was.
       And, he was a hard worker. Meetings of the Bank of Clarke's 
     board still begin at 6:50 a.m., a custom started by Hardesty, 
     to make sure he got a full day's work in, despite taking time 
     out for meetings.
       Running a farm, a bank and a county didn't take up all of 
     Hardesty's time.
       He was a trustee for his church, Crum's Church, a post also 
     held by his father.
       He helped direct the dairy industry through positions on 
     several organizations, including past president of the 
     Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative, the Virginia 
     Holstein Association and the Virginia State Dairyman's 
     Association.
       Three Virginia governors appointed him to committees to 
     advise them on the concerns of local governments.
       He promoted the larger county economy through membership in 
     the Berryville-Clarke County Chamber of Commerce. This year, 
     the Top of Virginia Regional Chamber, which now represents 
     Clarke County, named Hardesty its ``Citizen of the Year'' for 
     his lifetime of service to the county.
       He was married to Carter Conley Hardesty, who died in 2003, 
     for 50 years. The couple have two sons, John E. and David M., 
     who are both part of the family dairy business.
       A funeral service is planned for 11 a.m. Tuesday at Duncan 
     Memorial United Methodist Church in Berryville.
       Potts recalled Hardesty protesting when he introduced a 
     bill in the Virginia General Assembly to name a bridge for 
     Jack and Carter Hardesty in the district he represented for 
     so many years.
       ``I told him, `You don't have any say in it,''' Potts 
     recalled.
       Then-Gov. Mark Warner and Sen. Charles ``Chuck'' Robb, 
     along with former Sen. Harry F. Byrd Jr., all came for the 
     ceremony, Potts recalled.
       Both Democrats and Republicans respected Hardesty.
       Said Potts, ``If you couldn't get along with Jack Hardesty, 
     you couldn't get along with anyone.''
       Contact Val Van Meter at [email protected]

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