Weatherly Bethea Hardy
2021 will always be remembered as the year we lost Weatherly.
Weatherly looked rather like Humpty Dumpty, short, with a bald head and a broad smile. He ran Aardvark Screenprinting in Elkmont, and wrote some of the most ridiculous and entertaining radio spots ever to grace the airwaves of a small Alabama town. Even non-customers remarked on the ads, remembering his character ‘Stan Aardvark’ who could fix any situation through the power of screenprinting. Over the years, Stan fought giant monsters, screenprinted a ‘Please Visit Again’ message for the lonely man on the moon, rescued t-shirt buyers from the mafia, talked with Captain Kirk inside a temporal anomaly and rescued a boy’s pet tortoise from high up in a tree. ‘No job too odd!’ was Stan’s catchphrase.
Weatherly had a madcap sense of humor and a voice you couldn’t miss. He was influenced by anime, Gerry Anderson’s puppet shows, conspiracy and paranormal radio broadcasts, and campy old radio ads. His original t-shirt designs were both hilarious and esoteric.
Over the years, many babies received custom screenprinted onesies at their births, courtesy of Weatherly and his wife.
Weatherly came from a Church of Christ background and did not have the easiest life. There was pain in his past and a variety of health issues over the years, but he pressed through and was always there to share encouragement, a hug and a laugh. He adored his wife. He was beloved of his friends. He was honest, caring, sweet, and had a laugh that was infectious. Weatherly was like everyone’s amazing uncle. Like his Lord, Jesus Christ, Weatherly loved the outcasts and the odd people, taking special care of those who others might overlook. His ‘no job too odd!’ catchphrase could easily be changed to ‘no person too odd,’ as he befriended and cared for those who didn’t quite fit. His faith was deep and evident in the love he had for his wife, his daughter, his three sons, his grandchildren, his comrades and for anyone who needed a friend.
Weatherly would not have you be ignorant of his faith in Christ, either, as we know he is now with his Lord. As Weatherly once wrote, ‘The Bible is not a grimoire, filled with potent spells that if you say them JUST right, or enough times, they will bend the Almighty to your will. Instead, it instructs you to bow your knee, your desires and plans, to His Will.’
Weatherly walked in the Lord, and is with Him now. If you did not get a chance to meet him in this world, may you meet him in the next as the saints together praise The Almighty in the eternal land where there are no tears and no death and no broken hearts – and no one too odd! – forever and ever, amen.
Weatherly Bethea Hardy is survived by his beloved wife Grace Elaine ‘Lanie’ Hardy, his daughter Ariel Elaine Hardy, and three sons Ian McLeod Hardy, Alistair Micah Hardy, and Noel Franklin Hardy, as well as his two grandsons Dorian and Parker. A memorial service will be held at Spry Funeral Home in Athens AL at 1:00 PM central time on Saturday, January 8, 2022, with a reception to follow at Central Church of Christ in Athens.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in Weatherly’s name either to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital (stjude.org) or to Elkmont Volunteer Fire Department (check or money order to: Elkmont VFD PO Box 129 Elkmont, AL, 35620)
