TOPSAIL BEACH, NC -- Mr. Hardy Wessell, of 204 N. Anderson Blvd., Topsail Beach, NC, passed away Monday, August 31, 2009. He was born in Wilmington, NC, on October 13, 1925, the son of the late Conrad Bowman and Christine (Schulken) Wessell.

He was a graduate of the North Carolina State University School of Engineering, Class of 1950. In his earlier education, he was a student at Hemingway and graduated from New Hanover High School in 1943. He was an Eagle Scout and later he was a Scoutmaster of Troop 232, Wrightsville Beach, NC.

A lifelong Communicate of St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church and former Church Council President, he served in the U.S. Army Air Corp in WW II and was a Property and Casualty Independent Agent at Wessell Insurance Agency.

Hardy was an active participant in local civic and service organizations, serving as Past President of the Wilmington Civitan Club, Past Commander of the Cape Fear Power Squadron, Past President of the Wilmington Association of Independent Insurance Agents, and member of the Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriters since 1960. Since retiring in 1980, Hardy served as a volunteer with AARP Taxaide, Labor and Support with Habitat for Humanity, NC State Ports Seaman's Center, and as a docent at the Topsail Island Historical Society Museum.

Published in Wilmington Star-News on September 2, 2009