Thomas Hardy Obituary

Thomas Wright Hardy

December 5, 1951 - May 26, 2024

Chapel Hill, North Carolina - Thomas Wright Hardy of Chapel Hill died peacefully at home on May 26, 2024. An 11th generation North Carolinian whose family first arrived in Eastern North Carolina in 1695, Tom was born in 1951 to Emma Jane (McCarthy) Hardy and Wright Lupton Hardy.

Growing up in Raleigh in the 1950s and '60s, Tom acquired not only an interest in barbecue, bicycles, music, and UNC basketball but also a commitment to social justice. He graduated from Needham Broughton High School and went on to complete a BA in Psychology from UNC Chapel Hill and an MBA from Columbia University before spending nearly 50 years in the field of global public health, working to support the health and rights of women, girls, and vulnerable communities around the world. Tom lived in Boston, New York, Washington DC, Chapel Hill, Senegal, Morocco, and Yemen, and supported projects in more than 35 countries, helping millions of people.

An avid fly fisher, Tom built bamboo rods, tied flies, and enjoyed trout streams wherever he found them, from Asheville to Argentina. He was a birder, an environmentalist, a marathon runner, a lover of music, an owner of obscure band t-shirts, and a lifelong devotee of good coffee and college basketball. Tom was funny and kind, proud of his 23 years of sobriety, generous with his time, and devoted to his family.

He is survived by his wife, Miriam Rabkin, his children Samuel Andreas Luna Hardy, Jeannine Budihas and Stephen Budihas, his siblings Mark Hardy and Gayle Hardy Franks, his beloved granddaughter Akasha Loree Orchard Hardy, his ex-wife Zoee Guadalupe Luna, and numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.

A celebration of Tom's life will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, Tom requested that anyone wishing to make a donation in his name contribute to the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina (foodbankcenc.org), Trout Unlimited (www.tu.org), and/or the American Civil Liberties Union (www.aclu.org).