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Note: Ira Lee Hardin moved with his parents in 1916 to Tolar, Oklahoma, and again in 1918, to Ft. Towsen, Oklahoma. He went to school in Ft. Towsen, and graduated from the Ft. Towsen High School in 1922. While he was going to school, and after graduation, he worked on his Father's newspaper, "The Fort Towsen News". Around 1925, he married his first wife, Reba B. Hodge, and they had one son who they named Ira Lee Hardin, Jr. In August of 1927, they were divorced, and Reba gained custody of their son. Reba later changed her son's name to "HODGE". He later became a doctor. Shortly after his divorce, Ira Lee joined the U.S. Army which he made a career. Around 1930, he was stationed near Denver, Colorado where he met Hazel Hearn (Jackson). They were married on 26 October 1930. Ira attained the rank of "Master Sgt." and was a "First Sgt." with a Combat Engineer unit during WWII, however, he did not have to serve any overseas duty because he was needed here as a training sergeant at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. After the war, in 1946, Ira was transferred to Camp Kilmore, New Jersey. Ira sent his wife and children to California to stay with her parents while he went ahead to find them a place to live. Around June 24, 1946, while asleep in an Army barracks, a fire broke out, and he was forced to jump from a third story window. He received a broken shoulder, and broken legs, and was taken to the Halloran General Hospital in Staten Island, New York. He died there on 29 June 1946 of a blood clot to his heart. His body was brought to California, and he is buried at Rose Hills, in Whittier. Ira Lee Hardin was described as 5 feet, 9 inches with dark hair and brown eyes. Ira Lee and Hazel had four children. Hazel also had one daughter by her previous marriage to Andrew Jackson. The above information was furnished by Ira Wayne Hardin.
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