THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, April 12, 1996 TAG: 9604100114
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LINDA MCNATT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ISLE OF WIGHT COUNTY LENGTH: Long : 104 lines
Kathleen Lewis gets teary-eyed when she talks about her friend, Yogi Hardin. He's the man who encouraged her to get back in shape after her second child was born. He was her next-door neighbor, her running partner.
Just about anybody you ask can tell you that James R. ``Yogi'' Hardin - an ex-Marine, a former Portsmouth resident, retired FBI agent, a health and physical fitness nut who daily jogged six miles through Gatling Pointe, down Battery Park Road, through Battery Park and Rescue - was an unforgettable kind of guy.
Only 58, Hardin died suddenly about a year ago from an aneurysm.
He was still running every day.
And as Lewis began to see signs of spring this year, she decided she wanted to do something so that Hardin will always be remembered.
On Saturday, May 4, spearheaded by Lewis and supported by Hardin's widow, Pat, a memorial 5-kilometer run will be held in Gatling Pointe to help raise money to establish a scholarship in Hardin's memory.
``To celebrate the spirit of physical fitness and the memory of James R. `Yogi' Hardin.''
The scholarship, dubbed the ``Yogi Hardin All-American Scholarship Fund,'' will be handed out annually to a local athlete who shows the same kind of spirit and enthusiasm for life that Hardin did.
``The young person who gets this scholarship will be someone who is very determined, someone who perseveres,'' said Lewis, who already has established a board of trustees to oversee the fund and to determine the scholarship recipient.
Hardin was born in West Virginia and grew up in Portsmouth. At Cradock High School, where he got his nickname because a football coach commented that he looked like Yogi Berra, he was only 5-foot-10, weighed 190 pounds. But he went on to become an All-Southeastern District tackle on some of Cradock's finest football teams, according to Portsmouth Currents sports writer Bill Leffler, who wrote a column about Hardin when he died.
Hardin got a football scholarship to Western Kentucky University, and, Leffler said, he became one of the finest nose guards in the school's history. He was team captain in his senior year.
He also was named to the ``Little All-American'' team - three times.
Pat Hardin met her husband in college. She was there on an academic scholarship. Neither of them would have been able to go to college without the financial help, she said.
They married soon after college, and Hardin joined the Marine Corps. He served two hitches, went to Vietnam, where he was company commander of a rifle unit.
He joined the FBI after he left the Marine Corps. And there, special agents who worked with him said, he is still known today as a ``legend.'' He established and is called the ``father of the FBI SWAT program.''
Charlie Prouty, assistant special agent in charge of the South Carolina office, remembers Hardin as a man who ``battled his way up'' through life.
``He was all heart,'' Prouty said. ``He always put everything he had into anything he did. He would never ask anybody to do anything he wouldn't do himself. He was physically tough, mentally tough. But he was always somebody you could turn to when you needed help. He was a true American hero.''
``He was one of a kind,'' said Dale Lovin, who was once his partner and is still with the agency in Colorado. ``He lived every day like it was his last. He loved life, and he brought a lot of life to other people.''
Friends and acquaintances alike remember Hardin for his determination, his good humor, his patriotism.
When they moved to Smithfield after he retired from the FBI in 1990, his wife said, he stayed busy doing contract background checks and providing executive security. He ran every day in a pair of running shorts patterned after the American flag. The shorts started out as a joke, Pat Hardin said.
``Our daughter gave them to him one Christmas,'' she said, laughing. ``He liked them so much that when one pair wore out, we had to go out and find some more.''
He was frequently saluted as he passed the Battery Park post office in those shorts, said post mistress Jo Ann Midgette, chuckling at the memory.
``Everybody around here knew him and waved at him as he jogged by. He'd run in sometimes, keep his pace, say `Hi,' maybe buy a stamp. He was a really neat guy.''
``Yogi's Run,'' said Lewis, will be a celebration that aims to capture some of the spirit and boundless energy that so uniquely defined Hardin. There will be both a 5K road race and a short ``fun run/walk,'' beginning and ending near his home in Gatling Pointe.
The run is open to serious runners and nonathletes alike. A post-race party will feature refreshments, a raffle and live music. All proceeds from the event will benefit the scholarship.
``To all who knew him, Yogi was beyond comparison for his generous heart, constant good humor and intense love of physical exercise,'' Lewis said in a letter she wrote to local Chamber of Commerce members asking them to support the event.
And she said she's gotten overwhelming support for the scholarship run. There will be a group of FBI agents involved, and Hardin's daughter, Valerie, a tri-athlete, will run. Her best time on a 5K, her mother said, is just a little over 17 minutes. The Hardins' other daughter, Pamela Lael, will be coming from Mexico to join the celebration. MEMO: (EQ)Pre-registration for the memorial run is $12, $15 the day of the
event. Runners will get a T-shirt, prizes and refreshments. For more
information, or to register, call Kathleen Lewis at 357-6793.
ILLUSTRATION: Photo
James R. ``Yogi'' Hardin, an ex-Marine and retired FBI agent, jogged
six miles daily.
by CNB