Theodore Robert Hardmeyer, 68, of Mott, died Sunday, May 5, at the Jacobson Memorial Hospital in Elgin.

A wake will be held at 7 p.m. Friday, May 31, at St. Vincent's Catholic Church in Mott, where a funeral service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, June 1. He has been cremated and his ashes will be placed later that day in the Mott cemetery near a plot honoring his parents, Ted and Loraine Hardmeyer, and siblings who have passed before him.

He left the world on the same date as two of the most meaningful men in his life _ his father, and his father-in-law, Marvin Daggett, who died unexpectedly in 1993.

Known always as Teddy, he was renowned for his love of and loyalty to his hometown of Mott, where he returned to live the past two decades of his life. He loved the town's history and all of its happenings, large and small, especially sports. He avidly followed the high school athletic teams and was a die-hard collector of cardinals for their association with the former Mott Lincoln High School mascot.

He was enthusiastic and passionate about so many things! He was a fisherman and a wildlife watcher, especially birds. He was an avid photographer and enjoyed traveling back roads in search of old farmsteads and schoolhouses, or sights of simple prairie beauty. He looked for the confluences of small streams and rivers, the two-track trails to the tops of buttes, the progress of crops, the formation of weather and sunsets, and the goings-on in the countryside.

He was always talking about his discoveries and tales of all the people in town and how they fit into the generations of Mott residents. He attended most funerals out of respect for the families and the deceased's relationship to himself, his parents or his friends.
He never met a stranger and he especially looked out for anyone with a special need, whether that need was their age, their different abilities, or their home circumstances. While in Mott, he worked at the Mott Senior Citizens Center Meals on Wheels program, the Enchanted Castle in Regent, and for several years up until his death, was a faithful substitute rural mail carrier. He served on the board of the Mott Gallery of History and Art and was also an avid reader, with most of his books donated to the Mott Public Library.

He owned several lawnmowers in various states of repair and disrepair, including a new one he bought just a couple of weeks ago. It can be safely said that no one in the town's history or its entire future has or ever will put on more miles or wear out more riding mowers than Teddy. He never saw a lot line he wouldn't cross if there was mowing needed on the other side. Full speed ahead was Teddy's motto and  he was a familiar sight, buzzing around town wearing his noise cancelling headphones and old work clothes. He tried his best to help.

Teddy also struggled with alcohol abuse and mental and physical health issues. Those who knew and hopefully loved him understood his behavior could be erratic and sometimes hurtful. Where he failed, he hurt no one more than himself.

He died in Elgin's newer hospital, blocks away from the old one where he was born on Aug. 27, 1955, the eighth of 12 children. He graduated from Mott Lincoln High School with his beloved class of 1973 and went on to receive an associate degree at Bismarck State College and four-year degree at Moorhead (Minn.) State University in 1980.

He married Julie Daggett in 1977 and the couple had two sons, Gabriel and Seth. They lived in Moorhead, with strong associations to St. Joe's Catholic Church and parish, and the school, and where Teddy's successful career in business and sales included management work at JC Penney, Computerland, as well as Fargo Molding, Inc., and SJ Electro Systems.

He formally retired to Mott in 2006. He was a devoted father and family man in his best years.

He will be deeply missed in our hearts, out on the back roads and where the grass grows high.

He is survived by his ex-wife, Julie; his son Gabe (Anita) and their daughters, Grace, Lily and Juliet, of Naples, Fla; his son, Seth (Kari), of Frazee, Minn., their children Faith (Kyle) Kern, Hannah Conway (Carson Alger), Colton Conway, and Lillian Adams, and grandchildren Hadley and Landon Kern. He is also survived by his brothers, Kent, Steve and Evan; his sisters Judith Hardmeyer-Wright, Jane Baker, Maribeth Hardmeyer, Lauren Donovan, and Andrea Bacik; and many beloved nieces and nephews both Hardmeyers and Daggetts.

He was preceded in death by his parents, his sisters, Denise and Lisa, his brother, Eric, and his Mott grandparents Carl and Katharine Hardmeyer.

Memorials in Teddy's name can be made toward a new roof project at the Mott Gallery of History and Art, with a mail address of 508 Minnesota Ave., Mott, ND, 58646