Mrs. Barbara Irene Hart

Bardy is survived by her children: Alexander (Kathryn) Hart of Vancouver, BC, Anne Hart of Richmond Hill, ON, and Sara Hart of North Vancouver, BC; her siblings: C. William Gordon of Victoria, BC, and Margaret Jean Moock of Waterloo, ON; her grandchildren: Kevin Rigler, Sarah Rigler, and Shmuel Hart; numerous nieces and nephews; her son Jamie’s partner, Bob Gallagher; her lifelong friend in Victoria, Audrey Finch; and her gallant companion Bredin Stapells. She is preceded in death by her husband, Ronald R. Hart, her son Jamie Hart, and her brothers Donald J. Gordon and A. Thomas Gordon.

Bardy was born on August 5, 1925, in Vancouver, BC, to Alexander and Una L. Gordon. The family moved to Victoria, BC, where Bardy grew up and attended Willows Elementary School and Oak Bay High School. As a teenager, she enlisted in the RCAF and served in Dafoe, SK, and Ottawa, ON. After World War II, she attended Victoria College and then transferred to the University of Western Ontario, graduating in 1949 with a BA in English Literature and Philosophy. On July 7, 1951, she married Ronald R. Hart in London, ON. The young family relocated to Toronto in the early 1950s when Ron joined his family’s firm, S. R. Hart and Co. While raising her family, Bardy began volunteering for the Royal Ontario Museum in the 1960s, a connection which endured for several decades and which led to her full-time employment in the West Asian Department. Her children remember her as a strong, hard-working mother, who loved to travel the world, often on ROM trips she helped to organize and lead.

A memorial service is scheduled for Friday, January 9, 2015, at Christ Church Deer Park at 10:30 AM, with a reception to follow there (1570 Yonge Street, at Heath St. West). All are welcome to attend and celebrate Bardy's life. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the AIDS Committee of Toronto (ACT). Condolences can be posted to www.rosar-morrison.com. The family would like to thank the staff, volunteers, and care-givers at Kensington Hospice, Toronto, for their dedicated care and attention during Bardy’s stay. May her memory be for a blessing.