Lynda Gayle Hardesty

Lynda Gayle Hardesty of Emporia died on Saturday, June 27, 2026. She was 78.

Lynda was born on Christmas Day in 1947, the daughter of Andy and Ethel Torrens Fowler. She married Orval Van Hardesty on July 28, 1966, at the Lyon County Courthouse in Emporia.

Surviving family members include her husband Van of the home; daughters, Kerri (Kirk) Owen of Hartford, and Cleata (Derek) Oller of Emporia; grandchildren Melissa (Matt) Staggs, Dustin (Ashley) Lingenfelter, Austin ( Mikaela) Lingenfelter, Tanner (Kersten) Lasswell, Destinee Brown Oertle, and Romann Brown Oertle; great-grandchildren, Madelyn, Jackson, Finnley, Damion, Reed, Miles, Skylar, Rose, Colten.

She is preceded in death by her parents, daughter Monica Brown Hardesty, sister Hazel Curtis, brothers Jule and Merle Fowler.

Lynda worked for Newman Regional Health in OB/ Labor and Delivery for 30 years. She was a member of the Flatland Cruisers.

Visitation will be from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., Wednesday, July 8, 2026, at Roberts-Blue-Barnett Funeral Home. Funeral services will be at 10:30 a.m., Thursday, July 9, 2026, at the funeral home with burial following at Chicago Mound Cemetery. Memorial contributions to Hand in Hand Hospice can be sent in care of Roberts-Blue-Barnett Funeral Home, P.O. Box 175, Emporia, Kansas 66801.