Name: Hardage - Giddens Chapel Hills Funeral Home and Cemetery
Address: Jacksonville, FL

Dearest Grandmother,

Nonie was our grandmother.  We were her only grandchildren & every day of her life she showed us how much she loved us.  Nonie was a daughter, wife, mother, sister, aunt, grandmother and great-grandmother.  

Nonie was always positive and saw the best in people.  She cared most about family and the simple things in life from shopping with her daughters to watching all our family activities.  She was the “supervisor” — if something needed to be done, we wanted Nonie to supervise.  Just one of many examples that we’ll always remember is her supervising Thanksgiving dinner and her homemade stuffing.  Don’t worry Nonie, we won’t smash the bread!   

Nonie was a walking part of history – she grew up during the Great Depression and was married during WWII.  She raised her daughters during the civil rights movement and Cold War Era.  

She lived in Chicago most of her life and was a snowbird with my grandfather, Pop-Pop, in Florida.   They were married for 49 years.  Then she moved to Jacksonville, Florida to live with my mom for the remainder of her life.  This is all pretty amazing considering she’ll tell you she was only 39 years old.  

It would be too difficult to list all the memories with Nonie because she never missed an event.  But some of the highlights are:

1. The wild bat in the cabin where she’d take her daughters.
2. The Easter basket grass that was found years later in Nonie’s green shag carpet.
3. The hidden stash of candy jars that Bill & I would find behind Nonie’s curtains in her pantry.
4. The 2nd floor wood chest at Nonie’s house… Bill still has recurring dreams that he’d fall over the banister from on top of the chest.
5. The pennies Nonie would give us to buy Chicklet candy at Rothschild’s. 
6. Every Christmas opening Rothschild’s boxes from where Nonie worked. And, it wouldn’t be Christmas without those huge Hershey Kisses that she’d bring Bill and I.  
7. Nonie’s home cooked treasures… rice pudding, chicken & dumplings, Thanksgiving dinner, RIBS, and of course macaroni salad (she’d even make a separate bowl for Bill without those darn little pimento red things that he disliked).
8. When her elastic pants that were too tight & she was laughing hysterically to cut the elastic.
9. Countless memories at our family condo in the Florida Keys… her 3 wheel bike was her main mode of transportation.  She’d always honk that horn as she passed. Who needs a driver’s license when you have a 3 wheel bike with a big basket.
10. Nonie’s “Bank of Harrington” that we’d hit whenever we needed change.
11. Kleenex stuffed in her shirt sleeves.  Then my mom always finding that surprise later in the washing machine. 
12. Shopping & quarter slot machines at the casino.

We’ve come together today to celebrate Nonie’s life.  She was an amazing role model for all of us & we will miss her easy smile.  
  
Goodbye Nonie… we know you’ll continue supervising & we hope you enjoy those sunsets in the Florida Keys. Now in honor of Nonie, we need to go have “coffee-cookie time” just as she did every day.  

We love you, 
Bill & Jenny

Visitation

Funeral Mass

Hardage - Giddens Chapel Hills Funeral Home and Cemetery

Mary Harrington

immediate need

Death has occurred or is near

plan ahead

Pre-plan a funeral or cremation

Plan a Funeral or Cremation Default Desktop

Find Obituaries and Services

Send Flowers

sympathy and etiquette

grief library

celebrations of life

What to Say When Someone Dies

Show Your Support

Sympathy and Grief

obituary

services

memories

Obit Detail

In the care of

share to facebook

share by email

share link

Share Obituary

ideas and resources

Sympathy and Grief Mobile

OBITUARY

Mary Nonie Harrington

Hardage - Giddens Chapel Hills Funeral Home and Cemetery

Show your support

Add a Memory

Share Obituary

Get Reminders

Services