Head of Alumni remembered

Jerry Tardy lived for IU.\nAnd the University showed its thanks Wednesday in a memorial filled with moving memories of a man who touched many.\nTardy, 62, died Friday, Sept. 7 after losing a 15-month battle with cancer. \n"He taught each of us how to live, and die, with dignity, humor and style," his sister Susie Tardy Maxwell said, peaking the 90-minute tribute.\nTardy, the head of the IU Alumni Association for more than 14 years, was remembered in a tribute that included music from renowned IU musician David Baker and performances by a cappella organizations, such as Straight No Chaser and Ladies First, which was sponsored by the IUAA under Tardy's direction.\n"Jerry was a personal friend," said IU President Myles Brand, the first of seven friends and colleagues to present statement's of Tardy's life. "He displayed great pride as a Hoosier and had Hoosiers' humility, too … He was a good man, and helped others become good people."\nSurvivors include his wife, Laura Loudenback Tardy; two stepsons, Andrew Minger and Geoffrey Minger; two brothers, M. Eugene "Gene" Tardy, M.D., of Oak Park, Ill., and Richard N. "Dick" Tardy, of Salem, Ind.; and a sister, Suzanne "Susie" Tardy Maxwell, of Indianapolis.\nRather than speak, Dick Tardy sang a melody of hymns in remembrance of Tardy.\nNear the end of service, the crowd and deus that filled the Musical Arts Center stood shoulder-to-shoulder, arms entangled, and sang the Alma Mater song, "Hail to Old IU".\nBrand grabbed the coattails of a member of Straight No Chaser and pulled the two together. It was a show of unity, in the way Tardy would have wanted, Kent Millard the senior pastor of St. Luke's United Methodist Church, Indianapolis said.\nTardy invented "the sway," and helped build IU's alumni network, colleagues said.\nOf his accomplishments, many to list, Tardy gave the IUAA a full-time home, the Virgil T. Devault Alumni Center, 1000 E. 17th St. It wasn't a business office, Pat Shoulders, chairman of the 2001-2002 board of managers said, it was truly a home.\n"He worked tirelessly to give us a permanent home. We affectionately call it the 'Taj McTardy'," Shoulders bringing the silent audience into brief laughter. \nDick Huffman, a close friend who spent a lifetime with Tardy on the golf course, promised that only the thought of losing of Tardy's hand-me-down golf equipment would make him cry.\nIt didn't work.\n"For the past 15 months, Jerry has shown courage and determination that was super-human," said Huffman, breaking down. "He was an inspiration to me, as I think he should be to all of you. He made our campus a better place, our University a better institution and he made me a better person. And I'm indebted for that."\nHuffman told the crowd that included faculty deans, members of the board of trustees, athletics administrators and coaches, of Tardy's love for the game of golf.\nHuffman recalled one trip to the prestigious Muirfield Golf Village, their first to the course north of Columbus, Ohio. It was also their first round of golf with caddies.\n"I saw Jerry talking to my caddie, but I didn't think anything of it," said Huffman, planting the seed for his demise.\nAfter Huffman topped a shot that skidded along the ground, he heard his caddie: 'Nice shot. Shorty.'\n"I couldn't believe what I heard," Huffman said. "I turn around and see Jerry doubled-over."\nTardy had payed the caddie $50 to call Huffman shorty.\nTrustee John Walda hopes IU and the people that remain can live up to the example set by Jerry Tardy. The stone-faced trustee, usually making decisions that impact the students and employees across the university, fought back tears remembering the legacy of a friend.\n"We have inherited a responsibility from Jerry that what makes IU special continue to be a part of our fabric," Walda said. "Today's gathering is a pretty good start"