An accomplished and dynamic life drew to a close Oct. 29, 2016, in Vienna, Austria, with the passing of Ad Hardin. Ad had gone to Vienna from Spain to pursue experimental treatment for the cancer he had been fighting for over a year. He had been to Vienna before on one of his many cycling trips.
Adlai Stevenson Hardin Jr., whose cousin was the presidential nominee Adlai Stevenson II ’22, came to Princeton from Deerfield. He followed numerous relatives to Princeton, including his renowned sculptor-father, Adlai Sr., Class of 1923, who created and donated the cane still carried by the oldest returning alum at Reunions. Ad ate at Ivy Club, majored in history, and played JV hockey.
Ad served six months of active duty in the Army, attaining, in his words, “the exalted rank of specialist 5,” earned a degree from Columbia Law School, and in 1963 joined the Milbank, Tweed law firm, where he specialized in litigation and in 1970 became a partner. In 1966 he married Cecilia Jo Parrish. In 1994 he was appointed U.S. bankruptcy court judge for the Southern District of New York, where he distinguished himself for the next 15 years.
Sadly, Jo died in 2012. Ad is survived by his children, Adlai III, Hunter, Peter, and Melissa ’91.
In March of last year your secretary received the following sentiment from Ad — so appropriate to the challenges we now face: “We are in that season of life when dear ones, both friend and kin, leave us for distant shores and we feel buffeted and bereft. We all cope in different ways, I by focusing on a deep sense of gratitude for having shared part of my time with the one who has left, on wonderful memories that do not fade, and on the now and future that life may bring.”