Phyllis Jean Garner Hardie

Phyllis Jean Garner Hardie, 84, of Lewiston, New York, passed away peacefully on September 9, 2026, as her daughters Melanie Filby and Ruth Davis held her hands.

Born on the Fourth of July, 1942, in Elberton, Georgia, Phyllis was the only child of Ulus Dewitt Garner, a rural farmer, and Annie Mae Lois Bryant Garner, a seamstress and textile worker. She grew up on a small farm among cows, pigs, chickens, and dogs. From an early age she never shied away from a conversation. She loved people and always wanted to be in the vicinity of people — a trait her elementary school teachers noted on report card after report card, where they observed that she talked too much. It would prove to be one of the great gifts of her life.

She attended church with her family from the time she was small, and from a tender age she knew she wanted to be a missionary and tell others about Jesus. In 1964 she became the first person in her family to graduate from college, earning her teaching degree from the University of Georgia's Mary Frances Early College of Education. She married Charles Hardie in August 1965 and after several years of marriage they were called to the mission field. In her later years she worked as a substitute teacher in San Antonio, Texas and as an election poll worker in Niagara County, New York.

Together they served with the International Mission Board for over three decades: twenty years in Taichung, Taiwan, where they raised their family while ministering the gospel side by side, and ten years in Novosibirsk, Russia, and 1 year in the Czech Repulic. Her life carried her from bargaining in Mandarin with a southern accent at Taiwanese open-air markets to helping an American woman escape an abusive situation in Russia, work for which she received the thanks and recognition of the United States Embassy in Moscow.

Phyllis was known for loving powerfully and was always ready to share her love for her Savior, Jesus Christ. Affectionately known as Nai Nai to her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, she held a special place in her heart for her family and prayed fiercely and continually over each one by name.

She is survived by her three daughters, Melanie Filby and her husband Shawn, Ruth Davis and her husband Stuart, and Anna Frazier; her grandchildren, Graham Filby and his wife Annie, Amanda Stephenson and her husband Gavin, Mark Filby and his wife Hannah, Trey Filby, Marcella Clark and her husband Brandon, Rose McQuitty and her husband Gareth, Belle Davis, Gracie Frazier, Gloria Frazier, Jachin Frazier, and Jade Frazier; and her great-grandchildren, Addison Clark, Paige Clark, Charlie McQuitty, Eleanor Filby, and Liliana Filby.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Ulus and Lois Garner, and by her husband of 49 years, Charles Hardie.

Arrangements entrusted to HARDISON FUNERAL HOMES, INC., 401 Ridge Street, Lewiston, NY 14092.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Sunday, September 20, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. at Lewiston Assembly of God, 4754 Creek Road, Lewiston, New York.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial gifts be made to Lewiston Assembly of God or the International Mission Board.

Please share condolences at HARDISONFUNERALHOMES.com.