FARMINGTON – Surrounded by his family, Corydon Clayton Hardy, LCDR (retired), 79, died on June 21, in Farmington.

Cord grew up in Phillips, where he was born on Feb. 27, 1928, the son of Merton and Corace (Worcester) Hardy. He graduated in 1945 from Phillips High School. He attended Dartmouth and Bowdoin colleges and Boston University as a member of the V-12 Naval Unit, in a training course designed to meet the critical need for men in uniform in the final days of World War II.

In 1964, he received a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the Naval Post Graduate School in Monterey, Calif. Later he graduated from the School of Naval Justice in Newport, R.I., and after retirement he became a certified teacher.

As a young boy, he dreamed of becoming an aviator. He took his first flight training at the local airstrip with instructor Dick Raymond and went on to serve 23 years as a Naval aviator and veteran of WWII, the Korean War and the war in Vietnam. He received his Wings of Gold and commission as ensign in 1949.

He was ordered to Quonset Point, R.I., where he was a member of an early Navy fighter jet squadron and he earned distinction as one of the first aviators to launch and land jets aboard an aircraft carrier. Throughout his career, his tours of duty ranged from East to West Coast and Midway Island in the Pacific. He served aboard five aircraft carriers in both fighter and helicopter squadrons. A skilled helicopter pilot, he rescued flood victims in the Pocono Mountains and enabled repairs to the Telstar Radome in Andover.

As commander of search and rescue operations on Midway Island, he piloted amphibious aircraft to the aid of freighters in distress in the Pacific Ocean. His most hazardous assignment was flying C-130 transports in Vietnam, where he was often forced to make dangerous night landings. To avoid enemy detection, he made lights-off, “elevator” style landings. After lowering gear and flaps, he could literally drop his C-130, often laden with explosive cargo, onto a landing strip in less than 20 seconds. He wrapped up his final tour of duty instructing young jet pilots, retiring from the Navy in 1968.

He returned to his beloved home town in Phillips, where he worked as a carpenter, selectman and assessor and flight instructor for the Sandy River Flying Club. He was employed by SAD 58 as a substitute teacher, G.E.D. instructor and school bus driver. He was the owner of Hardy’s Saw Sales.

A real “people person,” he was involved in a number of clubs and associations, including the Phillips Men’s Club and North Franklin Snowmobile Club, Phillips Chamber of Commerce and Conservation Commission. He was a member of Kora Temple and past master of Blue Mountain 67 Masonic Lodge and served as commander of American Legion Prescott-Fairbanks Post 64.

As a lifetime member of the Flying Midshipmen Association, he was a part of a group that successfully lobbied to have active-duty midshipman time considered for pay and retirement benefits for aviators like himself who had flown under the Holloway Program from 1946 to 1951.

He enjoyed many hobbies and activities, but hunting and target shooting were his lifelong passions. For as long as he was able, he was active during hunting season. He was a member of the Big Bucks Club and had successfully participated in the moose lottery. Renowned as a crack shot, for many years he took home the lion’s share of prizes from local chicken shoots.

He enjoyed reloading his own ammunition and often did the same for other marksmen, reloading rounds to their specifications. In his later years, he loved having friends and family gathered around for food, drink and conversations and he had a knack for knowing almost everyone, young and old, by name.

He is survived by his wife, Marian; daughter, Arolyn Childs, and her husband, Larry, of Farmingdale; daughter, Dennifer Mayo, and her husband, Marty, of Winter Park, Fla.; son, Christian, and his wife, Julie, of Phillips; three grandchildren, Benjamin, Ansel and Emily; his mother, Corace Wing; and sister, Anita Morrison.

He was predeceased by his father, Merton; and his brother, Allison.