Wednesday 6 January 2010

To Know Him Is To Love Him


It is with deepest regret to inform you, that Ronald Hardy (Ron), a true friend and colleague passed away at the weekend.

It was by chance that he came to work for Steed over thirteen years ago, when myself & Thomas Mahon, now (Englishcut) advertised for a tailor in the newspaper. He was visiting Cumbria with his partner Pat, like they did on many occasions & found a last copy of the Cumberland news before heading back home to Liverpool.

The wealth of knowledge that he had & not just in tailoring, was phenomenal & if you wanted to know anything, you didn’t have to Google it, you just asked Ron.

He touched so many lives, both here & where he grew up in Liverpool, alongside people like Sir Paul McCartney, who was the same age 67 and went to the same high school. (Liverpool Institute).

Customers alike got to know Ron, mainly through myself on my travels & appreciated the workmanship that went into their suits & always sent their best wishes & regards, which I passed on & was always appreciated by him.

Ron had spent all his life in tailoring & was 15 years old when he started. His real name is Ronald and his middle name is Kenneth but there was already a tailor by the name of Ron working there, so they told him, “He’d be Ken”. So they’ll be a lot of people in Liverpool who would know him as Ken.

During his career he worked on various projects, such as making the uniforms for the film, Where Eagles Dare, which starred, Richard Burton & Clint Eastwood. Also he made a Johnny Walker type red tailcoat for the Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, which was worn by the captain.

These two photo's have been much admired by all who have seen them on The London Lounge and other forums and also featured in previous posts on Steed's View, which Ron made for us.


Unfortunately we don't have too many other photo's of Ron but the one above is taken by Tom at one of English Cut's gatherings and one of Ron where he was most at home, working at his board here at Steed, where it doesn't quite feel right without him being there working alongside us every day.

He will be sorely missed by all of those whose lives he touched.

The funeral will take place in Ron’s hometown of Liverpool on Friday, 15th January 2010. 

11 comments:

  1. What wonderful kind words spoken about a true Gentleman My Dad was simply the best xx

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  2. thank you so much for the wonderful words you have written about my dad

    love kerry xx

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  3. Iv I Am Half The Man My Grandad Is Il Be More Than Happy

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  4. I offer my heartfelt condolences to the Hardy family, and to his friends and colleagues.

    I have been Edwin's customer for the past nine years, and nearly everthing that I have was made up by Mr. Hardy. They are splendid items of exacting craftsmanship.

    I have noted his passing on an online forum in which I am active where many admired his work:

    http://www.styleforum.net/showthread.php?p=2824114#post2824114

    - W

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  5. A fantastic tribute to a great man, my thoughts are with you all, Kerry,Cathy,Kenny,Rach and all the family.

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  6. It was a pleasure and honor to have been his Niece. He was indeed a font of information.
    Will be sadly missed. Rest now Ken you've earned it.

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  7. abbieleigh cartledge /grandaughter8 January 2010 at 08:42

    my granddad was the best man in the world i'm going to miss him . RIP Granddad .xx.

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  8. Ron has been a constant inspiration to me over the past few years and will continue to do so forever. I want my tailoring to hopefully, one day be up to Ron's standard. He was amazing at his work, and always had a solution to any tailoring problem. Ron could fix everthing! Ron was a true friend I will miss him dearly. Ron meant so much to us all at Steed, we thought the world of him, such a kind and gentle man. He will always be with us. xxx

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  9. Awww abbie babe! hows all of you doin out there? gonna see you soon. hope you are all fine and the hardy's have got there heads screwed on. it is a tough time but lets all pull together and make it through this! Granddad would want us to be proud of him and his creations. so lets celebrate him as he is always there to guide us. you know that!

    Rest In Peace Graddad xx



    Cleo xx

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  10. Rest in peace Ron. I really enjoyed working with you at Steed. Although your body is no longer with us, your soul continues to live on. You will be missed by all who knew you,

    Lola

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