Services for Sharon Lee Bardin, 74, of Ada are 10:00 a.m. Wednesday at the Criswell Funeral Home Chapel, Rev. David Gray of Trinity Baptist Church will officiate. Burial will follow at New Bethel Cemetery in Byng.
Mrs. Bardin passed away peacefully Saturday, January 7, 2017 at Featherstone Assisted Living Center of Ada. She was born March 24, 1942 in Kansas City, MO to James Eric and Dortha Sybil Cleek Éclair. She graduated from Coalgate High School in 1960 and became “Ms. Ada” in 1962 going on to compete in the Ms. Oklahoma pageant. She married Carl Bardin in 1977 in Las Vegas, NV. He preceded her in death August 1, 2008.
Mrs. Bardin received a Master’s Degree in Education from East Central University in Ada and taught at Francis Elementary School until her early retirement. With a grant from the State of Oklahoma, she helped pioneer one of the very first early childhood education programs.
In retirement, Mrs. Bardin pursued her love for Bloodhounds competing in dog shows around the country, including Westminster in New York. She donated many of her dogs to Sheriff’s Departments, Police and Federal Law Enforcement Agencies throughout the United States that would later go on to track fugitives, find lost children and of all irony’s, rescue lost persons afflicted by the very Alzheimer’s disease she faced late in life.
Survivors include her children, Deedy Breaux and husband Roger of Friendswood, TX, Jay Owens and wife Lori of Ada, Lonnie Sims and wife Lea Ann of Jenks, and Angie Hardy and husband Jason of Arlington, TX; a brother, Jimbo Éclair of Coalgate; her grandchildren, Eryn Housinger and husband Luke, Eric Owens, Jaelyn Fry and husband Zane, Gabe Pendley and wife Brittany, Blake Turney, Trace Turney, Sydney Strumila, Laney Sims, Shayla Turney, LeighAnne Breaux, Chelsea Breaux, Bridget Hardy and Molly Hardy; and three great-grandchildren, Averey Howk, Clara Housinger and Violet Fry.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her beloved husband, Carl; and two grandchildren, Will and Cody Pendley.
Bearers will be Eric Owens, Blake Turney, Jason Hardy, Zane Fry, Doug Peay and Ricky Walker. Honorary bearers will be Betty Holt, Willa Dean Abbott and the Featherstone Staff.
Criswell Funeral Home, Ada