Judge William D. "Bill" Hardin (Floydada)
Judge William “Bill” Hardin passed away peacefully on February 9, 2023, at 95. The funeral service will be held at 2:00 p.m., Thursday, February 16, 2023, at the First Baptist Church in Floydada with Mark Snowden and Anthony Sisemore officiating. Interment will follow at the Floydada Cemetery.
Bill was born on November 15, 1927, in Dickens County to Bryan and Pearl Hardin. After finishing High School, he worked in Amarillo until he was drafted into the U.S. Army. Before his discharge, he served as a Mess Sergeant in Japan. After returning to the States, Bill enrolled in Lippert’s Business College in Plainview. After graduating, he became a court reporter. He worked in Birmingham, Alabama, Kansas, and Cameron, Texas. He then came to Floydada to serve as the official court reporter of the 110th Judicial Court of Texas. Bill worked in that capacity for twenty-eight years before resigning to farm. He farmed for ten years before he was appointed the County Judge of Floyd County in December of 1986. He retired in December 2006. He served many years as a Rotarian, a board member of the Floydada Cemetery Association, and a deacon of the First Baptist Church in Floydada.
Until her passing in 2021, Bill was never without his wife, Roberta. The two were a complete pair that stood as a pillar of their church, family, and community. Bill was the embodiment of stern and unyielding but gentle love, which was a perfect fit for Granny’s fierce, unapologetic devotion and adoration for their family. This caused a perfect storm to spoil their grandsons, Jesse and Robert, to no end (and later their granddaughter-in-law, Amy). Both boys remember him for his patience in dealing with them. Bill’s legacy will continue to reach hundreds as the perfect example for Jesse in law enforcement. Jesse keeps mementos of Bill’s time as Floyd County Judge, which include his gavel, to remind him of the need to be fair, kind, and firm with everyone he meets.
Bill is preceded in death by his wife, Roberta, his parents, and four brothers; B.C. Hardin Jr., Gene Hardin, Wayne Hardin, Bob Hardin, and one sister, Geneva Merrill.
Bill is survived by his daughter, Rosemary, and husband, Jim Finley; grandsons, Jesse Finley and wife Amy and Robert Finley; great-grandchildren; James William and Aria Abigail, two sisters-in-law; Edith Muncy and Doris Hardin, and numerous nieces and nephews.
