Hardy Tingle passed away Friday, June 14, 2013, at Shands Hospital University of Florida after a long struggle with heart failure. He was born in Quitman, Mississippi November 25, 1946. He was preceded in death by his father, Fletcher W. Tingle. He is survived by his wife of 47 years Janice Tingle, son Chris Tingle (Lynn), Apple Valley MN, daughter Tiffany Scharpf, San Anselmo CA, his mother Robbie Tingle, Florence MS, sister Sandra Chancellor (Bill), Byram MS, grandchildren Fletcher Tingle, III, Emily Grace Tingle, Sofia Scharpf, Presley Tingle, Cash Tingle and numerous nieces and nephews. He was a member of the United Methodist Church and the Mississippi Army National Guard.
Hardy Tingle began his career at Taylor Machine Works in Louisville, Ms. He later was a teacher at Starkville Public Schools where he retired after 25 years. He was self-employed designing and drawing architectural plans for homes throughout the state of Mississippi. He will also be remembered as “Mr. Bully Bell”, for producing Mississippi State cowbells. He enjoyed backpacking and began hiking the Appalachian Trail in 1976 with a group of his students. He sectioned hiked through the years and completed the 2,185 mile trail in 2006. He moved to The Villages, FL in 2006. There his hobbies included kayaking and pottery, his signature pottery being small, whimsical gecko houses.
Hardy was an avid Mississippi State baseball fan and a longtime resident of Left Field Lounge. He followed the bulldogs to the College World Series in Omaha numerous times and has the best seat in the house this year.
Whether a student at Starkville High School, ringing your cowbell to wrap another one in maroon and white or walking into your newly constructed house, Hardy Tingle touched many lives in Starkville, Mississippi.
A celebration of Hardy Tingle’s life will be held later in Starkville, Ms. Memorials may be made to the charity of your choice. On line guest book available at www.chancellorfuneralhome.com.
