He's like the typical teenage boy who loves strawberry and chocolate ice cream better than cake, playing ball with his friends and being outdoors. But Ross Hardy turned 102 years old Wednesday.
Nevertheless, Hardy fondly remembers boyhood pranks like tipping his bishop's outhouse over face first. "I was sorry I had to do it, but I couldn't resist."Leulla Hardy, 96, said she learned more about her brother's childhood mischief listening to his sleep-talking revelations about girlfriends and teasing his younger sisters than she did by experiencing his sense of humor firsthand.
"He teased us when he could. But there wasn't often time for that.
"Ross was a charmer. He was a big tease to the girls in the ward, but they were all crazy about him," she said.
Despite his teasing, Ruby Mangelson, Hardy's neighbor at Creek Road Elderly Care Center, said Hardy is one of the "sweetest, very loving, very cooperative, very kind, tolerant men in the whole world."
Hardy ranched for 40 years, first with his seven siblings on their family's Salt Lake farm and later near Riverton before settling in Baggs, Wyo.
Ronald Oberholtzer, Hardy's nephew, said his uncle hasn't changed much since his active ranching days. "He's tough. He's very seldom had anything wrong with him."
Hardy and his late wife, Kathleen, raised many of their nephews and nieces in addition to their own three children, nine grandchildren and several great- and great-great-grandchildren through direct and indirect influence. Oberholtzer remembers his uncle disciplining him as a young child when his parents wouldn't: "I was acting up when I was 3 years old and he spanked me when my parents wouldn't. I was well-behaved after that."
Reflecting on his long, "good" life, Hardy said, "It's always best to do all you can to help somebody. Just do the best you can at all times - that's all you can do anymore."
Hardy's candle-blowing wish was that everyone would stay happy.