Please join us as we honor and remember the life of Clay.

Memorial Service

Clay's party will immediately follow his Memorial Service. We will laugh, tell stories and toast a life well lived by a sweet, wonderful man.

If you are traveling from out of town, here is a great hotel recommendation. The Harpeth Franklin Downtown is within walking distance of the venue.  Here is the website: https://harpethhotel.com/

Celebration of Life

M Hardin

Clay Hardin

Jennifer Hardin

Rashmi Bartlett

This memorial is dedicated to Clay Hardin. He left us way too soon after a short but brave battle with cancer.  We will always love and cherish his memory and will miss him so much.
Clay was born on Oahu, HI in 1969 to Kathleen and Ralph Hardin. Shortly after his birth, he and his family relocated to Franklin, TN where he grew up. He graduated from Montgomery Bell Academy in 1987. In 1991 he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Furman University, Greenville, SC, where he was President of the Investments Club and tutored fellow students in economics, calculus, and statistics.
After graduation, Clay moved back to Franklin and worked in the Davidson County Circuit Court Clerk's office, where his career as a "computer geek" began. Clay’s computer skills were mostly self-taught. He created the first computer program to post the public docket of each Judge’s schedules. In his free time, he attended weekly meetings at Telelink, Nashville’s first commercial Internet service provider. Here he learned about the newest Internet technologies and continued to hone his computer skills. In short, he embraced technology and never looked back.
In 1997 Clay became a web developer at Speed Serve in Nashville. In 1998, Buy.com purchased Speed Serve and he spent a couple of years as a software engineer for Buy.com in Nashville. This job led him out west with a move to Santa Monica, California. After leaving Buy.com, Clay became a senior software engineer for the start-up, uMogul. But Clay wasn’t all business. He embraced the California lifestyle in many ways, including taking sailing lessons. He often sailed out to Catalina Island with his instructor. And he brought nautical lingo and knot-tying expertise back east. He continued to sail on vacay and had a love for it. Boat ornaments would even become a staple of Hardin Christmas trees as did sunset cruises with Jenn.
When uMogul closed their doors, Clay found himself back in Franklin, TN. For the past 20 years, Clay has worked as a Senior Software Engineer at Optum/IT Services in Cool Springs. During his time at Optum, Clay traveled to India where he worked, explored the culture, made new friends, and became a real fan of authentic Indian food. He loved working closely with various teams in the states and in India. He enjoyed being part of a mentoring program that allowed him to work with “the youngins" in the company and could be counted on to have a proverbial dad joke on standby at the morning scrum meetings.
In 2002, Clay realized his life had focused on either school or work and little adventure, so he took a sabbatical from work to travel the world. Clay set out on his own and backpacked Europe for 3 months. He traveled all over Europe by train and stayed at hostels where he met other young travelers from various countries, striking up new friendships and travel buddies. Clay journaled and photographed his way through favorite cities such as Florence, Madrid, and Prague. When he came back home, he had a lot of great adventure stories to share with family and friends.
Clay met the love of his life and best friend, Jennifer George in December of 2004. Jenn always said to her "it was love at first sight" and knew he was the one she would spend her life with. A year later, Jenn moved to Franklin to live with Clay and they began to build a home and life together. They filled their time with cooking, going to music concerts, traveling, and of course spending time with their beloved pups Augi, Jack and Kaia. They married in 2011, barefoot on the beach, on Jekyll Island, Ga surrounded by close family members.
Clay was known for his generous spirit, ingenuity, wit, and devotion to those he loved. He loved all types of music from alternative to classic rock to Buffet or Prog Rock. He was an adventurous foodie and especially loved Asian and Indian food – the hotter, the better! Clay enjoyed cooking and was a pro in the kitchen and on the grill. He was always up for chilling out with a cold beer or glass of wine. He also had a love for fast cars. He enjoyed taking his Porsche Boxster out on sunny days. No doubt that right now, Clay and his beloved yellow lab Jack are either cruising in that car with the top down, playing their favorite game, “toy search and rescue” or curled up on the couch with his iPad and a glass of wine.
Clay was simply a kind, honorable, and decent man. There was no better husband, son, or friend. We are forever grateful for the time we were able to spend with him. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him.
Clay is survived by his beloved wife Jennifer George Hardin of Franklin, TN; his parents, Kathleen Haynes of Hendersonville, TN, and Ralph Hardin of Spring Hill, TN; his brother, Kyle Hardin (Michelle) and niece, Shelby Hardin of Atlanta, GA. Clay is predeceased by maternal grandparents, Joe D and Lucy Haynes of Castalian Springs, TN, and fraternal grandparents, Fred and Ruth Hardin of Wichita, KS.
The family wishes to express appreciation to everyone who helped in Clay’s care and supported us over the past few months, especially Sandy Jordan and loving Haynes and Hardin cousins. The love and kindness shown to us will touch our hearts forever.
There will be a memorial service directly followed by a Celebration of Life on January 14, 2023 in Franklin, TN. Details are being finalized and we will post updates on this site as they are available. We invite friends, family, and co-workers to join us. No tears allowed - we are going to turn our tears into laughter and a joyous remembrance of Clay. We plan to tell Clay stories, listen to his favorite music, eat tasty food and raise our glasses to the brilliant, funny, courageous, and one-and-only Clay Hardin.

When words can't fully express what we want to say, sometimes a small gift can. Visit our Memorial Store for personalized gifts, keepsake jewelry and to plant a memorial tree.

We use cookies to improve your browsing experience and analyze site traffic.
<privacyLink>Privacy Policy</privacyLink>.

<firstParagraph>We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze how you use this website, store your preferences, and provide the content and advertisements that are relevant to you. These cookies will only be stored in your browser with your prior consent.</firstParagraph><secondParagraph>You can choose to enable or disable some or all of these cookies but disabling some of them may affect your browsing experience.</secondParagraph>

<firstParagraph>We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.</firstParagraph><secondParagraph>The cookies that are categorized as 'Necessary' are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site.</secondParagraph>

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

Analytics

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

Functional

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

Necessary

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

Performance

Customize Cookie Preferences

Verification Successful!

New Message

The following files could not be uploaded

Ways you can honor {memorialName}'s memory:

Donation Link

Upcoming Event

Featured Mementos

Welcome Message

Select an item to highlight

Add a highlighted item

Customize which items you’d like to highlight on the memorial

Create Account

Become a Keeper

As a free {brandName} user, you will only be able to make 5 photos and videos public.

As a free {brandName} user, only the first five (5) Mementos are visible to page visitors. You can change which Mementos are public by dragging and dropping a photo or video to one of the first five positions. Upgrading to {brandName} Plus will make all 10 Mementos selected visible to the public.

All Mementos

This option is only available to Keeper Plus users.

To allow yourself and the rest of the community to view all images and videos, and to enable everyone to download their own copy of these mementos, upgrade your account to Keeper Plus.

This memento is not visible to visitors

Your community has posted {itemCount} more pictures and videos that honor {firstName}'s memory. To view them all, and to enable everyone to download their own copy of each, this account will need to upgrade to Keeper Plus.

View all images and videos with Keeper Plus

Our Obituary Assistant helps you craft a meaningful life story in minutes. Review and edit every detail, and unlock more features with Keeper Plus.

Obituary Assistant

Spend as much time as you need working on your Memorial page before it is visible to the public, and much more, when you upgrade to Keeper Plus.

Save Page as Draft

Create unlimited event pages and unlock a suite of powerful features to help you seamlessly coordinate event details, invites, and more when you upgrade to Keeper Plus.

Event

Create a full picture of your loved one’s community and add unlimited family and friends to Loved Ones when you upgrade to Keeper Plus.

Loved One

Create unlimited Memorials — and unlock unlimited images and videos, event pages, and advanced privacy settings — to help you keep memories alive when you upgrade to Keeper Plus.

Memorial Page

Add unlimited Stories to highlight the all the things that made your loved one unique, from milestones, images, albums, documents, locations, and much more.

Highlight Stories

Upgrading to Keeper Plus means you can add additional Keepers to help you gather Mementos and tributes, approve content, build out a family tree, and tell {firstName}' story on Keeper.

Invite Keepers with Keeper Plus

Upload and display unlimited photos and videos, use unlimited Story templates to highlight key moments, and allow friends and family to download their own copies when you upgrade to Keeper Plus. 

Better Mementos with Keeper Plus

To access memorial related configurations that control the display of the banner upgrade to Keeper Plus.

This configuration  is not available on your current plan

Create a meaningful link path to add a personal touch to {firstName}'s memorial.

Custom Memorial link

Gift Messages

SENDING AS A GIFT?

Cart

About 1-800 Flowers

"Flowers were beautiful and they arrived in time before the funeral. Thank you and will purchase more in the future.!"

Hearing Tears

"Beautiful flowers, I've always enjoyed sending them to my love ones for sympathy and they have always love them very much Thanks for making people feel good when receiving them."

Sympathy

"This was true to the photo and good to know family took arrangement after the service."

Beautiful arrangement.  Perfect size for service.

Some of the great things our customers say about us

We're here to make it a little easier, with thoughtful gifts for the services & home, along with expert advice on how to be there during a difficult time.

Flowers

Gift Baskets

Express Your Deepest Sympathy

About Us

Perfect Condolence Gift

No one is meant to grieve alone

Peace and love

Product is made, packaged, and sent with love

Keepsakes

How to add your gift message

Packaging Information

Shipping information

Add a Personalized Charm to the Ornament:

Other Keepsakes

Install KeeperQR onto any headstone, urn, or other memorial in minutes.

Install

Use your phone or tablet to scan the unique code — no other tools required!

Scan

All three of our elegant KeeperQR designs are printed using durable, weather-resistant aluminum designed for indoors and outdoor use on headstones and urns, memorial benches and trees, or other monuments to your loved one’s life

Built to Last

Get <discount>50% off</discount> Keeper Plus with your KeeperQR purchase

Keeper Basic

Learn About Our Plans

Connect the physical and digital worlds to share your loved one’s life story with friends and family, no matter where they are.

KeeperQR Memorial QR Code Plaques

Planting a memorial tree or bereavement tree is a unique, environmentally conscious way to pay tribute and honor the memory of your loved one. Keeper Memorials is supporting American Forests to plant whitebark pine trees as well as thornscrub trees in select regions of the US and Canada.

Memorial Trees

KeeperQR is designed to pair seamlessly with a Keeper digital memorial. Use our FREE intuitive tools to create biographies, maps, and timelines, share photos and videos, and more with customizable features built to commemorate your loved one’s life’s story.

Powered by Keeper

Lifetime without any hidden costs or subscription traps

One time payment

Keeper is SOC2 compliant, keeping your memories safe and secure.

Data protection guaranteed

We bring your QR Codes to any corner of the globe

Worldwide Shipping

Our durable and beautiful QR code plaques create seamless connection between your loved one’s physical memorial and their digital memorial, allowing visitors to their final resting place instant access to their life legacy.

Memorial.

Honor their memory, share their story

A KeeperQR is a weather-resistant plaque with a custom QR code that links directly to your loved one’s digital memorial. When placed on a headstone, urn, bench, or tree, it allows friends and family to scan and view their life story instantly

What is a KeeperQR?

They’re built to withstand outdoor elements and adhere to most surfaces.

Where can I place the KeeperQR?

How does it work?

Frequently asked questions

KeeperQR

E-Certificate Design

Plant Memorial Trees as a Living Tribute

BRAZIL

CANADA

FLORIDA

OREGON

Memorial Project Reach

Memorial trees start at {price} per tree, with discounts for multiple trees

Our Commitment

Gift Baskets & Food

Keeper Plus

QR Plaques

Keepers Featured Products

A Greener Way to Remember

Learn about our Partners:

Help Us Complete Your Order

Remembrance Store

Through your unique link, your client can sign up for Keeper and create a Memorial for a loved one. When the Memorial page is completed by the family, it will appear on your microsite and website. You will be the main Keeper Administrator of the Memorial, along with the family member that created the page.

Invite Your Clients to Create a Memorial

Invite Families

Your Email Notifications

Notifications

Email Unsubscribe Settings

Other Settings

With your active Keeper PLUS subscription, you get unlimited access to a suite of powerful features:

Allow visitors to download a local copy of all images and videos.

Download Media

Create a custom and meaningful URL, unique to your loved one, for each Memorial page.

Editable URL

Plan public or private events and invite your loved ones.

Event Pages

Add images and create profile pages to illustrate the history and genealogy of your loved one.

Family Tree

Invite unlimited administrators to help you manage every Memorial page you have.

Keeper Administrators

Visitors enjoy unrestricted access to all uploaded images and videos.

Unlimited Media

Create unlimited Memorial pages for your loved ones.

Memorial Pages

You will be able to upload Full HD videos instead of embedded links.

Video Uploading

Your Profile

Add a business user

Edit a business user

Are you sure you want to delete these users from these brands? You will need to manually add these users again.

If the user is a part of multiple brands, you will have to delete the user from each one individually

Delete Users from Brands?

Users Settings & Notifications

Users

Are you sure you want to delete these users? This action will revoke their privileges across all brands.

Are you sure you want to delete this user? This action will revoke their privileges across all brands.

Delete Users from all Brands?

Delete User from Brand?

Are you sure you want to delete {totalDeletes} from this user?

Delete Roles from this User?

Are you sure you want to delete this user from this brand? You will need to manually add this user again.

Delete User from this Brand?

Requires users to confirm their email every time they would like to share a tribute on a Memorial page.

When Email Tribute Validation is turned OFF, Guest users do not need to confirm their email address before their tribute is published.

When Email Tribute Validation is turned ON, Guest users will need to confirm their email address before their tribute is published. They will receive an email with a confirmation link they must click.

Requires users to confirm their email only the first time they would like to share a tribute on a Memorial page.

Email Tribute Validation

If Flagged Content is turned OFF, content that has been flagged will remain public until they have been Approved or Removed from the Requests Center.

If Flagged Content is turned ON, content that has been flagged will be hidden until they have been Approved or Removed from the Requests Center.

Hide Flagged Content

Language

Email Notifications

Are you sure you want to delete the Memorial for {name}? This action will permanently remove the memorial from the system.

Delete Memorial?

When Memorial Request Moderation is turned OFF, Memorials will automatically be published.

When Memorial Request Moderation is turned ON, Memorials will only be published if and when you approve them. Memorials can be published or deleted in the Requests center.

Memorial Request Moderation

Moderation Settings

This will permanently delete your account. The business account, and business page will not be deleted. To deactivate your account, there must be another admin user assigned to your organization.

Are you sure you want to deactivate this account?

When Override Tribute Moderation is turned OFF, the tribute moderation settings on Memorial pages will be hidden and other Keepers cannot override the tribute moderation settings specified by your organization.

When Override Tribute Moderation is turned ON, other Keepers can view and change the tribute moderation settings of the Memorial pages they manage. (Each Memorial page will default to the organization’s tribute moderation setting upon creation.) 

Override Tribute Moderation

If the AI Content Moderation is OFF, text areas containing profane language will be published.  Tributes can however be flagged and removed at any time.

If the AI Content Moderation is ON, text areas containing profane language will not be published and the user will receive an error message.

Clay Hardin Obituary | Keeper Memorials