Melva Hardison loved to say, “Everybody needs a mama.”
That was what Melva told so many people over the decades. At times, it seemed she was “mom” or “mama” to nearly everyone she encountered. She was born on Valentine’s Day, 1926. A perfect day for someone with Melva’s nurturing spirit.
Melva Lee Hardison passed away early in the morning of March 16, 2025, at the age of 99.
She had five biological children: Audrey Walker (deceased), Darnell Hardison, Ronnie Hardison, Ned Fuqua (deceased) and Gloria Williams (deceased). But that’s only a few of many who called her “mom.” It’s nearly impossible to keep count of how many relatives and others she took into her home over the decades. Terry Pluto (one of her “children”) spoke at the funeral of her daughter, Gloria Williams. Pluto asked how many people there lived with Melva at some point in their lives. At least 15 hands went up.
Heading North
Melva Hardison was born in Tennessee and raised near Florence, Alabama. She began working at the family cafe when she was 12. She was raised by her aunt. She had other odd jobs in the mostly rural area. At the end of World War II, she came North to Akron. The rubber factories were hiring. Other businesses were booming. That’s what many in her community heard. She was armed with a letter “saying I was a good worker” from the manager of the Alabama cafe. She bought a one-way bus ticket to Akron. Arriving at the bus station, she began looking in the Akron Beacon-Journal for jobs. She saw advertisements for women to be housekeepers. She took the letter with her, “I got hired right away. A nice Jewish family.” For the next several years, she worked for different Jewish families in Akron. She loved to talk about them, how one would find her a job with another family when she needed more work. They paid some of her medical bills. She later worked at department stores and also at a restaurant with Audrey, her oldest daughter. Her last job was cooking and cleaning at a nursing home. She was 79 when she finally “retired.”
She’d reminisce about the big houses she cleaned for others and the kids she helped raise. She bragged about how her employers would drive her to and from work so she wouldn’t have to take the bus.
She immersed herself in the church, singing in the choir and cooking for special events. She wore huge, colorful hats and elegant dresses to Sunday services and revivals. “I love them old gospel songs like ‘I shall wear a crown’,” she said. “Why don’t they sing them no more?”
Psalm 68 Family
As the Bible says in Psalm 68:5-6: “A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families and leads out prisoners with singing. . .”That’s how Melva lived her life. Eight years ago, she suffered a major heart attack. She was on Hospice for a time. That’s when she went into The Village of St. Edward’s Nursing Home in Fairlawn. It wasn’t long before some of the younger residents (those in their 60s and 70s) began calling her “Mama.” She loved it. Melva beat the heart attack and came off Hospice. St. Edward’s became another Psalm 68 family with Melva as the matriarch. She liked people to come to her room and watch the old Westerns on Me-TV. She’d laugh at shows like Judge Judy where people start “yelling and acting the fool” at each other.
Her children (Darnell Hardison, Ronnie Hardison and Gloria Williams) regularly visited her. So did her great-grandsons, Dominic Bledsoe and Domanaire Bledsoe. Her granddaughter Darnetta Bledsoe was a constant presence. She spent every night with Melva in the Hospice unit at Barberton Hospital during the final week of her life. She liked that. She thought everyone should “have a good mama,” and Melva was a great one to so many.
Melva is preceded in death by parents, Robert and Nellie Hardison along with her brother, Robert Jr. and sisters, Aline and Maxine. Her children Gloria Williams, Audrey Walker and Ned Fuqua also passed away, as did her grandchildren, Vernell, Pashaun, Jermain (Sr.), Leo (Sr.) and Desie.
She leaves to cherish her memory her children, Ronnie and Darnell. Her grandchildren, Ned, Melva, Ella, Cleo, Darnetta, Dazzal, Audrey (Ronetta), Darnell (JR), Jason, Terrence, Latoya, Windell, Garland, Davion and Ronell. Her great grandchildren, Domanaire, Dominic, Leo (Jr.), Davoniek, AnBreshia, Antwanasia, Seven, Leasia, Dameila, Kanaya, Daishanai, Anthony, Kamyala (deceased), Damauri Dazzal, Ni’Aire, Miylajh, Diona, Melissa, Deonte, Da’vd, Dashoun, Keyota, Jermanin (Jr.), Nelson, Deja, Ned, Tyler, Heven, Nyrin, Zion and Nasir; great-granchildren, Damonte and Montia; Her great great grandchildren, Devonnier, Nevaeh, Riley, Montasia (deceased), Nyla, Rose and Rylan. She also is a great loss to her family in Cleveland and Lima, Ohio.
Melva loved bright colors, especially pink and white. The family asks people to feel free to wear those colors. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to The Village of St. Edward’s in Fairlawn.
Viewing will be held on Thursday, March 27, 2025, from 10:00 am until 11:00 am at Sommerville Funeral Services, 1695 Diagonal Rd.
Akron, Oh 44320. Funeral service will immediately follow. Interment Greenlawn Cemetery.