Patricia Ross Hardeman

Patricia Ross Hardeman passed away on November 17, 2017. Funeral services will be held at Wesleyan College's Pierce Chapel on Tuesday, December 19, 2017, at 2:00 p.m., with Dr. Vivia Fowler officiating. A reception for greeting friends and extended family will be held at the chapel for one hour prior to the service. Burial will be private at Rose Hill Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Wesleyan College, 4760 Forsyth Road, Macon, GA 31210. Ms. Hardeman dedicated her life to academia, with a particular focus on the sciences. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Wesleyan College in 1968, attended Mercer University Graduate School of Education in 1972, and received a Master of Science degree from Georgia College and State University in 1974. After receiving her master's degree, she joined the faculty of Wesleyan College in 1974 as an Instructor of Biology. As a professor of biology, she conducted field studies in many places around the world, including the Galapagos Islands, Kenya, and the Amazon rainforest. Her research studies included tracking baboons in Ethiopia, studying water chemistry for the Cousteau Society in the Virgin Islands, and researching shark behavior and marine biology in Puerto Rico. During her career at Wesleyan, she served as the president of the Wesleyan chapter of Phi Kappa Phi and secured Wesleyan's charter for the Sigma Lambda chapter of the Beta Beta Beta Biological Honor Society. Mrs. Hardeman later became an important member of Wesleyan's administrative staff. She was elected president of the faculty in 1984, she became the assistant Dean and Registrar in 1988, and she served as Associate Dean and Registrar of Wesleyan from 2001-20014. During that time, Mrs. Hardeman served as liaison/observer with Vivia Fowler in exploring and developing the Memorandum of Understanding between Wesleyan College and South China Normal University, Guangzhou, and the Agreement between Wesleyan and Wuhan University, the People's Republic of China, in 2010. She, in fact, wore many other administrative hats at Wesleyan, including those of Director of Academic Advising from 1990 to 2014, Director of Institutional Research, Grants Coordinator, Chair of the Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, and Editor of the Wesleyan College Catalogue. Ms. Hardeman, known for her love of storytelling, was especially committed to producing "Tales from the Vault," a presentation on the history of Wesleyan College derived from Wesleyan's archives. Ms. Hardeman was predeceased by her parents, William Gardiner Hardeman, Jr., and Virginia Ruth Ross Hardeman, and by her two sisters, Elizabeth Joyce Hardeman and Ruth Inman Hardeman Schubring. Ms. Hardeman is survived by her daughter, Dana Hardeman Lewis of Los Angeles, California; her sister, Juliana "Jukie" Hardeman Caldwell and her husband, Reverend Bill Caldwell, of Cape Coral, Florida; and many nieces and nephews. Please sign the online guest registry at www.hartsmort.com. Hart's Mortuary and Crematory, Cherry Street, has charge of arrangements.