Ethel "Penny" Rothen Hardee

Ethel “Penny” Rothen Hardee died Monday, September 14, 2015. She had recently celebrated her 89th birthday. She is survived by her husband, Walter P. Hardee, brother Robert E. Rothen (Lucille), sons Philip (Betty), Christopher (Susan), Eric (Diane) and Jonathan (Pamela) Hardee and eight grandchildren.

She was born in the borough of Manhattan, New York City on July 13, 1926. She moved to Bloomfield, NJ at an early age and attended the local school through sixth grade. She then attended the Beard School graduating in 1944. She then attended Vassar College under the three year plan graduating with a major in English.

During this period she met Walter P. Hardee from Durham, NC who was in the army, stationed at NYU in the ASTP program. Mr. Hardee left NYU to attend West Point after two years of service. Penny and Walter met on numerous occasions during his one year stay at West Point. The two met again while Walter was attending Duke University in Civil Engineering. They were married September 6, 1947. Penny worked in a jewelry store until their first son was born. They moved to New Jersey and remained there until Walter completed his schooling at Columbia. It was then that they entered the big world of work. They lived in Bluff City, TN where her second son was born. This was followed by a year in Houston, TX and a year in Philadelphia where her third son was born, sharing a birthday with her second son. Their next move was made to Baltimore where her fourth son was born. It was here that she started her career as a librarian. She began at the St. Paul’s School in Brooklandville, MD, a suburb of Baltimore where she became the head librarian of the school which included a lower, middle and upper school library. During her tenure a new library building was built. She then moved to Hudson OH where her talents were used in the Hudson High School library. A move back to Baltimore prompted her to establish a library at the Baltimore Zoo for Keepers and other employees. She received their Outstanding Volunteer Award for over 8,000 hours of work and her love of animals. She and her husband then moved to Springmoor Life Care Retirement Center in Raleigh, NC where she lived until her death. Her husband is still a resident of Springmoor.

The family will celebrate her life at a private internment service at Maplewood Cemetery in Durham, NC where she will be buried in the Hardee plot.