JOYCE POUNDS HARDY
1925-2018
Joyce Pounds Hardy, beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and great grandmother passed away peacefully on Thursday, the 22nd of March 2018 at age 92.
Joyce was born on the 23rd of November 1925 at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Houston, to Horace and Christine Pounds. She and her loving sister, Bettye, shared a close relationship for nine decades.
After graduation from Lamar, Joyce entered Rice Institute with the class of ’45, majoring in English. While there, she organized the first women’s football, basketball, and softball teams. The dean of women threatened to expel the women for “unladylike conduct” but relented when they agreed to move their games to the outskirts of campus. It was then when Joyce made a promise that if ever it were in her power, no woman would be denied the opportunity to play a sport at Rice. She kept this promise by becoming a fierce advocate for women’s athletics.
Before Joyce entered her junior year at Rice, she met and married former Rice graduate and then UTMB medical student, Tom Hardy. His naval obligation compelled Joyce to leave Rice to become a Navy wife. For over ten years they lived the military life with stops in Galveston, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Pensacola, and San Diego. During that time, they became the parents to five children, moving back to Houston once Tom’s tour of duty in Korea was complete. After 25 years of marriage, Joyce re-enrolled at Rice, finishing her degree in English in 1967. That set the stage for a lifetime commitment to the university. Her husband, Tom, a long-time anesthesiologist at Methodist Hospital, passed away in 1984 at which time she refocused her energies on family, writing, and Rice.
For over four decades, Joyce was a tireless advocate for women’s athletics on campus. Her significant contributions to that cause are honored each year with the presentation of the Joyce Pounds Hardy Award, given to the most outstanding female varsity athlete for athletic and scholastic achievement.
Over the years, Joyce was an avid supporter of all Rice athletics, often showing up at practices and games with “lucky” treats for the various teams. She is best known in that regard for her 40 years of supplying pregame bubblegum to the baseball team, a devotion that earned her the nickname, “Bubblegum Lady”.
Joyce used her expertise in English to embark on her award-winning career in writing. She won such honors as the Texas Writer’s Recognition Award for her first book, The Reluctant Hunter, a collection of 60 poems covering 20 years of hunting trips and her evolving affection for the beauty of the rugged West Texas landscape. Additional books include French Windows (for the six summers she spent studying writing at the Paris American Academy), Surviving Aunt Ruth, Lyrics for Old Lovers, Reflections of a Moonwatcher, and Roads to Forgotten Texas, co-authored with Tommy LaVergne from Rice. In 2005, Joyce was invited to read her works at The World Congress of Poets in Beijing, China.
In 1998 Joyce married John McDonald, also a Rice graduate and former boyfriend from her college days. They enjoyed 4 wonderful years together before he passed away.
Joyce was an Elder in her church, St. Andrew’s Presbyterian, for many years and was instrumental in starting and directing the Mother’s Day Out program from 1968 to 1972. It was later incorporated into the current Children’s Place Day School.
Throughout her life, Joyce never lost her indomitable spirit. Her laughter will echo forever in those who knew and loved her.
Joyce is survived by her five children: Tom Hardy, Jr., Lynn Brotherton (Joe), Buck Hardy (Sally), Mike Hardy (Mitzi), and Larry Hardy (Suzanne), as well as her sister, Bettye Pennington, 13 grandchildren, and 17 great grandchildren.
A memorial service and celebration of her life is to be conducted at three o’clock in the afternoon on Sunday, the 8th of April, at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, 5308 Buffalo Speedway in Houston, where Pastor Jeff Smith is to officiate.
Immediately following, all are invited to greet the family during a reception at a venue to be announced during the service.
Prior to the service, the family will have gathered for a private entombment in the Abbey Edition Mausoleum at Forest Park Lawndale Cemetery in Houston.
In lieu of customary remembrances, the family requests with gratitude that memorial contributions in her name be directed to Rice University Athletics, MS-548, PO Box 1892, Houston, TX 77251-1892; St. Andrews Presbyterian Church; or to the charity of one’s choice.