Harley
Hardecopf, 82
Oklee
- Harley Hardecopf, 82, of Oklee, died Sunday,
April 18, 2004 at Hillcrest Nursing Home in Red
Lake Falls. 
Memorial
services will be held at 2 p.m. on Thursday, April
22, at Zion Lutheran Church in Oklee, with Rev. Bob
Paulson officiating. Casket bearers include all of
Harley's grandchildren. Interment will be at Zion
Lutheran Cemetery, Oklee.
Visitation
will be 6 &endash; 8 p.m. on Wednesday, April 21 at
Zion Lutheran Church in Oklee with an 8 p.m. prayer
service and for one hour prior to services at the
church on Thursday.
Harley
Lee Hardecopf was born June 29, 1921 on the family
farm in northern Kossuth County, Iowa to Ernest and
Kathryn (Wolf) Hardecopf. He was baptized and
confirmed at the Lutheran Church in Dolliver, Iowa.
He attended school in Dolliver for 10 years.
In
1947, Harley was drafted into the Army and served
nine months in occupied Japan. He came to visit a
friend from the service in Goodridge, Minnesota and
met Joyce Heden. He always said, "I came to visit
Gust, but Joyce looked better." He proposed
marriage and he and Joyce eloped. The marriage
ceremony took place June 10, 1948 in Mankato,
Minnesota.
Harley
and Joyce made their home on a farm northeast of
Highlanding township. Their three oldest daughters
were born while they lived there. They moved to
Hibbing for a year where Harley worked for
Enterprise Mine by Virginia. Their fourth daughter
was born while they lived in Hibbing. They then
moved back to the Goodridge area and in Harley's
words, "we farmed until we went broke." In 1956,
Harley began working summers at the iron range as a
mechanic in various mines. They moved to the
Hibbing area once again in 1968 when the mines
began running year-round. Harley retired from the
mines in 1983 after 27 years of service at the age
of 62. Five years after retirement Harley and Joyce
moved to Oklee, Minnesota.
Harley
enjoyed woodworking, fishing, traveling and working
with pictures on the computer. He enjoyed his small
airplane, which he crashed twice before giving it
up. He owned one of the first personal computers
available to the public. He loved all kinds of
"toys," both mechanical and technological. He was
very proud of his grandchildren and great
grandchildren.
Survivors
include his wife, Joyce of Oklee; four children,
Linda (Tony) Kaml of Nashwauk, Pat (Duane) Asselin
of Oklee, Pam (Bernard) Asselin of Oklee, Karen
(Richard) Denne of Keewatin; 14 grandchildren; 10
great-grandchildren; one brother, Bernie Hardecopf
of Armstrong, Iowa and several, nieces and
nephews.
He
was preceded in death by his parents; his sisters,
Julia and Lydia; and his brothers, Albert and
Clarence. A00003B2004AR21
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