Elizabeth Payne Hardin

Elizabeth Payne Hardin, 78, of Hot Springs Village, Arkansas entered the Church Triumphant on April 1, 2016, following a brief stay at CHI St. Vincent's Hospice Unit in Hot Springs. She was born April 23, 1937 to John Sanders and Dorris Armstrong Payne in Malvern, Arkansas. In 1954 Elizabeth graduated from Malvern High School and Miss Agee's Sherwood School of Music piano program. Elizabeth attended Baylor University where she met Joe Hardin and fell in love. They married July 29, 1956 and started a family in Texas, later moving back to Arkansas with two little girls. Elizabeth was a proficient office administrative assistant working for mortgage loan offices in Little Rock, an oil and gas land company in Fort Smith, Citi Bank in Chicago, Illinois, and a patent attorney in Washington, DC before beginning a long Career in the church. She was church secretary at First Presbyterian Church of Malvern for over a decade. Then she trained and became a Commissioned Lay Pastor for the PC(USA). Elizabeth served as a lay pastor at First Presbyterian Church of Gurdon, AR for ten years before retiring. Elizabeth was a tireless volunteer. As a mother she was a Brownie Girl Scout leader, and made recital costumes for the Madden School of Dance. She was an accomplished seamstress and tailor. She won first in state with the Grant County 4-H "Sew with Cotton" competition and later received the 1989 Outstanding Leader of the Year award for teaching sewing. Elizabeth assisted on their Prattsville cattle farm, and kept the books. They won Farm Family of the year once. She volunteered as Secretary Treasurer for the Grant County Farm Bureau for many years. She was active in Presbyterian Women, Bible Study Fellowship, chaplain for her P.E.O. Sisterhood, and a moderator for Arkansas Presbyterian Pilgrimage (formerly Cursillo). She is survived by her beloved husband of near 60 years, Lon Joseph "Joe" Hardin, their two daughters, Kathryn Maddy (Jeff) of St. Albans, WV, and Charlotte Calkins (Joe) of Thomson, GA, her sister Sarah Clarice Payne Jines of Little Rock, and her brother James Robert Payne of Malvern. She was blessed with nine grandchildren, Michael Maddy of Charleston, WV, Kate Calkins of Savannah, GA, Emily Calkins-Reed (Jake) of New York, NY, Robert Maddy of St. Albans, WV, Joe B.Calkins III, of Augusta, GA, Elly Maddy of Lexington, KY, Matthew Calkins of Augusta, GA, and Mary Calkins of Thomson, GA. She was preceded in death by her sister Martha Lee Payne, three brothers John S. Payne, Jr., Jesse Oliver "Joe" Payne, and Paul Richard Payne, plus one grandchild Sarah Kathryn Calkins. A 3:00 pm memorial service to celebrate Elizabeth's life will be held Friday, April 8, 2016, at Kirk in the Pines. The Kirk is located at 275 Asturias Drive in Hot a Springs Village. You may enter through the East or West Gates. Flowers are welcome, but you may alternatively donate to the First Presbyterian Church of Gurdon, the Kirk in the Pines, Heifer International, or Arkansas Hospice in Hot Springs. Hot Springs Funeral Home coordinated arrangements with the Genesis Donor Program of the Medical Education & Research Institute in Memphis, TN.

Elizabeth Payne Hardin

April 23, 1937 - April 1, 2016