Happy Birthday! Malvern resident celebrates 100th birthday
A Malvern resident and Bismarck native is celebrating her 100th birthday today. Novella (Shuffield) Hardage was born to Herman and Era (Thomas) Shuffield on Jan. 15, 1921, in Marcus, in western Hot Spring County.
As a very young child, Hardage attended Marcus School. The special things she remembered from her school were drawing names at Christmas, playing ball and hopscotch at recess, taking her lunch in a sack to school, her dad taking her to school on bad weather days; otherwise, she walked.
Hardage said she and her siblings would walk to school, crossing the swinging bridge that was over the creek at Marcus.
She said that bridge never scared her.
Hardage recalled some of her teachers were Gladys Shuffield Lambert and Selma Ausley. Hardage also remembers that in her youth, her dad would take them to a silent picture show at Marcus.
The Roy Roger’s movie, “Trigger,” was played on a screen outside next to Red Anderson’s store, but Hardage loved it.
In 1929, Marcus consolidated with Bismarck and Bismarck-Marcus School opened. Hardage transferred to the school when she was in fifth grade.
She graduated from the school in 1938 and still remembers members of the graduating
class.
Members of the class include: Viceil Allen, Ruby Brantly, Cecil Nelson, Clifford Oaks, Dennis Holt, Coy Montgomery, Virginia Hardage, Denise Sheets, Aline Thornton, Sylvia Tyler and Novella Shuffield-Hardage.
Hardage married J.R. Hard
age on Oct. 21, 1939, and they were married for 71 years. J.R. Hardage died May 5, 2011.
For more than 55 years, the couple had a farm in Bismarck. When they retired, they moved to Malvern and Hardage has lived in Malvern for more than 15 years.
Family member Evon Teague said that Hardage lives in a local nursing home now, but she lived on her own until she was 98 years old, and she drove a car until she was 95.
When she was 95, she cooked a entire Thanksgiving feast for her entire family.
“Novella loves taking care of plants and flowers and she has a green thumb,” Teague said. “She could really get the plants and flowers so pretty and rich in color. She always had flowers out on her patio that she took care of in her later years. They brought her joy.”
Hardage has three children, J.R. Jr., deceased, and wife Joyce, Kay and husband Randy; and Craig and his wife Leyla.
Her grandchildren include Amanda; Charidy; Kyle, deceased; Jason; Jeffery and Alan. She also has six great-grandchildren, Jessica, Zane, Keith, Sarah, Becca and Alisha, and two greatgrand children; Sammy Evelyn and Freya.
“Novella has always loved her kids and grandkids and goes out of her way to make everyone feel special,” Teague said.