Harvey "Dale" Tardy (Lubbock)
A celebration of the life of Harvey “Dale” Tardy, 89, of Lubbock, TX, will be on Saturday, June 25, at 10 am at First Baptist Church of Lubbock (FBC), followed by a 1 pm graveside at Floydada Cemetery. Dr. DL Lowrie will officiate. Dale’s family will receive friends on Friday, June 24, from 6-8 pm at Lake Ridge Chapel. We invite you to sign his virtual guestbook here on this page.
Dale was born in his childhood house on December 20, 1932, in the farming community of McCoy, TX to Harvey Tardy and Marie Smith. He graduated from Floydada High School and received his Bachelor of Science degree from Texas Tech.
Dale joined the Army and served overseas. Upon returning, he married the love of his life, Nancy Golightly, on October 21, 1956. They were married for 63 years. Their early married life was spent in the Houston area before moving the family to Lubbock in 1963 to start his own business, Rayne Soft Water. Several years later they took on a swimming pool business, Tardy Pool Co., as well as Culligan Water Conditioning. For many decades, Dale was known in Lubbock and the surrounding cities as “The Culligan Man.”
Dale was an active member of FBC and volunteered on many construction projects through the years – locally, statewide, and across the US. In his retirement, Dale and Nancy both enjoyed serving with the Texas Baptist Men in constructing churches across Texas, the US, and Haiti. Dale served as a Deacon at FBC, and on the Board of Directors for Gilbert Herrera Ministries. He faithfully supported foreign missions and the South Plains Food Bank.
During his active years, he had a workshop and was a master handyman that could build or repair almost anything. He enjoyed teaching his children about construction projects and working with them in the family business. He loved sports his whole life. He was a catcher, he coached little leagues, played golf and tennis, and most recently corn hole (and he was really good at it). He loved Red Raider sports and Patrick Mahomes. He found great joy in spending time with his family.
In retirement, Dale and Nancy enjoyed traveling in their RV Motorhome across the US. In 2002 Nancy’s health began to decline and Dale cared for her until her death in November 2019.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Nancy, his son, Joel, and two great-grandchildren. He is survived by Larry (son) and Lisa Tardy, Betsy Tardy (daughter-in-law), Todd (son) and Shelley Tardy, David and Debbie (daughter) Ysasaga and Nita Golightly Beightol (sister-in-law). He is also survived by 21 grandchildren (plus twelve spouses), 21 great-grandchildren, and 4 great-grandchildren on the way.
