Karen Ruth Eefting Hardin

Karen Ruth Eefting Hardin, 80 Kindergarten Teacher Karen Ruth Eefting Hardin, 80, passed away peacefully from complications from surgery on November 12, 2014 surrounded by her children. Mrs. Hardin was predeceased by her husband Major Robert Gregg Hardin and her parents William Theodore Eefting and Evelyn Mitchell Eefting. She is survived by her three children Cynthia Tarapani and her husband John Tarapani, Michael Robert Hardin, Ruth Yost and her husband Colonel Robert Yost, and her grandchildren Townsend Tarapani (Jenna Tarapani), Jessica Yost, Rebekah Yost Kerr (Tyler Kerr), Abigail Yost and great grandson Leon Tarapani. She is also survived by her brother and sister-in-law Ronald and Ilene Eefting, brother-in-law Benjamin W. Hardin, many nieces and nephews and their spouses. Mrs. Hardin attended University of Florida where she met the love of her life, Robert Hardin, and they married on February 6, 1955. They lived in Lake Charles, Louisiana and Lakeland until her husband joined active duty in the U.S. Air Force and moved to France in 1962. They enjoyed a life of many travels and adventures as a result of service in the Air Force enjoying life in South Carolina, Maryland, Taiwan and Colorado with their children. Upon her husband""s death in 1972, Mrs. Hardin and her children moved back to Lakeland, her husband""s hometown. After receiving her degree in Elementary Education in 1976 from Florida Southern College, Mrs. Hardin taught kindergarten at Kingsford Elementary School for 24 years. When she retired from teaching in 2002, she took great pleasure in giving back to her community by becoming a Guardian Ad Litem, a Certified Ombudsman for Long Term Care and serving on the Family Selection Committee of the Lakeland Habitat for Humanity. She was also active in First United Methodist Church, a member of PEO, a member of the Julia Berry Bennett Club and active in the Alpha Chi Omega Sorority Alumnae Association. Throughout her lifetime, she enjoyed frequent trips to visit her children and grandchildren, attended performances of the Imperial Symphony and the FSC Fine Arts Series, had deep friendships and activities with many friends, was an avid reader and consummate collector of a wide variety of beautiful things. Mrs. Hardin had a deep faith in God and a loving heart that made so many acts of kindness both small and large that a list would fill many books. Mrs. Hardin was an independent woman with an inquisitive mind who was constantly learning. She saw beauty in the natural world and treasured her children and grandchildren above all else (with ice cream a close second!) Services for Mrs. Hardin will be held on Saturday, November 22, 2014 at 11 am at First United Methodist Church, 72 Lake Morton Drive, Lakeland, Florida 33801. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations be made in her memory to First United Methodist Church, 72 Lake Morton Drive, Lakeland, or to Habitat for Humanity, 1317 George Jenkins Boulevard, Lakeland, Florida 33815. Service: 11/22/2014 First United Methodist Church Sanctuary 72 Lake Morton Drive, Lakeland, Florida 33801