Jack Shafer Hardman

Jack Shafer Hardman, 101, of Bath Township, passed away January 7, 2026 after a brief illness.

Born in Akron, Ohio to Guy and Ethel Hardman, on Easter Sunday 1924, Jack claimed that the stork was busy, so the Easter Bunny delivered him to the hospital. Growing up on Briarwood Drive in the shadow of the Simon Perkins mansion, he had two paper routes and over 100 customers, delivering folded newspapers twice daily by bicycle.

Jack attended Grace School and Buchtel High School, graduating in 1942. He served in the United States Navy in the Pacific Theater during WWII, where he was stationed in the Marshall Islands, the Solomon Islands, and aboard the USS Lexington (CV-16).

After the war, Jack returned to Akron and began working at the Henry Freytag Company and later at The B.F. Goodrich Company. In May, 1948, he married Geraldine Hardacre and started a family. When his daughter, Cheryl, was young, he built a life-sized doll house in the backyard of the family home on Roslyn Avenue. After moving to Bath Township in 1964, he painted full sized pictures of Bugs Bunny, Wile E. Coyote, Batman, and others on the cement block walls in the basement to entertain his young son, Kevin. He tolerated his son’s interests in sports, but he was more interested in plants, flowers, geography, old cars, and music of the Swing Era.

In the 1960s and early 1970s, he often worked two jobs – heading to his second job at H&H Machine or National Machine after his regular work days at “The Goodrich” ended. He retired in 1986 and enjoyed almost 40 years in retirement. Jack spent his retirement years metalworking in the shop in his basement, traveling the globe, making friends easily, and collecting everything that struck his fancy – from coins to stamps and guns to sport coats.

Jack lived completely independently until he was 98 years old. Special thanks to the assisted living caregivers at Vitalia Montrose who made the final days of his journey better. Additional thanks to Dr. Eric Panzner, Dr. Amy Fernandez, Dr. Samantha Figas, and the doctors and nurses at Cleveland Clinic Akron General and Cleveland Clinic Edwin Shaw for their care and support.

Jack was preceded in death by his wife, Geraldine, in 1985, and his son-in-law, Curtis VonGunten, in 2017. He is survived by his daughter, Cheryl, son, Kevin (Michele); 6 grandchildren (Leslee, Laura, Elizabeth, Curtis, Anthony, and Haleigh) and 11 great grandchildren (Jackson, Jazmine, Jaylee, Xavier, Logan, Erik, Emily, Alexander, Lilliana, Hayden, and Pierce). He will be remembered by his family as loving, forgiving, dependable, resilient, and quite eccentric.

Calling hours will be held 11 A.M. – 12:30 P.M. FRIDAY January 16th, 2026 at the Billow FAIRLAWN Chapel, 85 N. Miller Road. Entombment 1 P.M. FRIDAY at Rose Hill Burial Park. Both the Committal Service and rendering of U.S. Navy Honors will be held in the Mausoleum Chapel at the cemetery.

Services in care of the Billow Funeral Homes and Crematory, FAIRLAWN Chapel, 85 N. Miller Road Akron, OH 44333 (Billow FAIRLAWN Chapel)