Wayne Hardin

Wayne Hardin, 90, of Oshkosh, passed away Wednesday afternoon, March 12, 2014, at the Garden County Health Services Nursing Home in Oshkosh.

Funeral Services will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, March 17, 2014 at the Holechek Funeral Home in Oshkosh with Pastor Duane Dunwoody officiating.  Burial will follow in the Oshkosh City Cemetery.

The casket will be open one hour before services at the funeral home.

A memorial has been established in Wayne’s name to the Oshkosh Senior Center.

Holechek Funeral Home and Cremations in Oshkosh is serving the Hardin family.

Wayne R Hardin was born May 30, 1923 to Elzie W. and Esther B. (Ball) Hardin on his grandfather’s homestead four miles north of Huntley, Nebraska, in Harlan County.  He was baptized as a small child at the Methodist Church in Huntley and sang in the choir there.   He attended school at Huntley and at the end of the depression, the family moved to Kearney, Nebraska where he attended the last three years of high school.

After high school, he moved west looking for work as times were tough and wages were small.  He got a job working in a hay field for $2.00 a day.  Wayne met Arita Sheldon in 1941 and 2 and a half years later they married on September 25, 1943.  They were blessed with three children.  Wayne worked for the Blanchard Ranch for 26 years.  He did general ranch work, haying contracts, and trucking for most of his life and was considered a pretty good cowboy.

Wayne is survived by his children Marshall and Dorothy Hardin of Casper, WY, Maida and Jon Chapin of Cheyenne, WY and Jana Hardin of Post Falls, ID, 10 grandchildren, 21 great grandchildren, 10 great-great grandchildren and other extended family members.

Wayne was preceded in death by his wife of 56 years in 1999 and their son Dale in October of 2013.