Garnet Wolseley Hardin II

Garnet Wolseley Hardin II was born on December 28, 1950 in New Orleans, LA, and died after a short illness on December 17, 2024. He was the 6th of 8 children born to Sidney Lee Hardin and Jeanne Marie Freret, and his adventurous spirit was molded by a household full of lively personalities. Influenced by the counterculture movement of the late 1960s, his first great adventure began when he and some friends stepped onto a converted school bus headed for San Francisco. Ultimately he wound up in Alaska, where he would go on to spend many summers working and playing with family and friends whom he met there. Further adventures included captaining a sailboat in the Caribbean and exploring the waterways of south Louisiana and Mississippi.

A lifelong music lover, he was one of the original members of the “Fessgator Krewe,” which led the construction of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. He supervised construction of the festival for 37 years. He also oversaw installations at other major events, including two presidential inaugurations, two Super Bowls, the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta and the pregame show for the Saint’s reopening of the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina. A skilled carpenter, he left his mark from New Orleans to Kennicott, Alaska, building homes and restoring both historic properties and commercial spaces, including both Tipitina’s locations.

He had a big bark and was quick to tell you (sometimes not so nicely) if he didn’t like something, but those who knew him well saw the incredibly kind, loving, giving and thoughtful man he was. A loyal friend, he helped countless people find work, learn a craft, or get out of a jam. He was happiest while travelling, cooking, working, or spending time with the people he loved. In the later part of his life these qualities were on full display as he lovingly cared for his wife, Linda Holley, through her 12-year battle with Alzheimers’.

Professional hippie, special events coordinator, master craftsman, loving father, and great friend, he wished to be remembered in the things he enjoyed, whether it be telling stories at the bar after a hard day's work, travelling, boiling shrimp or crawfish, frying turkeys or gathering with friends at the Jazz Fest. His son’s childhood was filled with these experiences, from incredible summers in Alaska, boating on the Jordan River, growing up with the Fessgator Krewe at the Jazz Fest, campouts at the Critter Dinner, cookouts or a hard day’s work alongside his father.

This incredibly hard working, kind man leaves behind his son Garnet Munro “Weeg” Hardin (Aleksandra), grandchildren Edvin and Livia, the mother of his son, friend and first wife, Ann Edmonson, along with an incredible network of family and friends. He is predeceased by his parents, his brother Sidney Lee Hardin, Jr., and his sister Harriet Hardin McCallum. He is also survived by his siblings Allain Freret Hardin (Pauline), Jean Hardin Curran, Anne Lee Hardin, Nancy Hardin Bounds (Terry), Andree Hardin Campbell (John), along with numerous cousins, nieces, and nephews.

There will be a celebration of life to be announced at a later date.