- Date Of Birth: December 11, 1940
- Date Of Death: May 2, 2019
- City: Jacksonville
- State: Florida
Grover “Conrad” Hardie, Jr., 78, passed from this earth surrounded by family on May 2, 2019.
Born on December 11, 1940, in Jacksonville, Conrad was a fifth-generation Floridian, a lifelong resident of St. Lucie County, and the son of pioneering family Grover Conrad Hardie, Sr., and Vieva Holmes Hardie.
Conrad attended St. Anastasia Catholic School and graduated from Dan McCarty High School. He proudly attended the University of Florida and obtained a Bachelor of Science Degree in Agriculture in 1963.
In 1960, Conrad married high school sweetheart Pommy VanTilborg and together celebrated 58 years together, having a daughter and two sons.
Conrad Hardie celebrated a 45-year career in the fertilizer industry climbing from entry-level work pulling soil samples as a sales assistant at W.R. Grace & Co. to management levels as a plant manager covering operations in Florida and the Caribbean to executive leadership within Lykes Agri Sales and Nitram, Inc.
Regardless of whether he was managing labor union negotiations or a fertilizer plant fire, Conrad met challenges head-on with integrity and honesty. This was recognized by his peers who elected him to the Florida Fertilizer and Agrichemical Association Board of Directors for more than 20 years and to the Board of the Fertilizer Industry Round-table for more than a decade. Conrad concluded his career in June of 2008 as General Manager of Fertilizer Operations for Helena Chemical Co. His service to and leadership of the industry was greatly valued and recognized when he was presented the FFAA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010.
An avid outdoorsman, Conrad spent much time hunting and fishing with his children, raising cattle, and enjoying college football, especially his beloved Florida Gators.
Conrad Hardie is preceded in death by his parents Conrad and Vieva Hardie and brother Richard Hardie. He is survived by his wife Pommy, daughter Melinda and sons Laurance and Douglas, and daughter-in-law Michelle.
