Danny was born in the spring of 1948 in Great Falls to Harold and Hazel Hardinger. He ended up being the third of six kids, and they all lived in a little house on the farm on Tiger Butte Road. Those kids made up most of the busload to the school in Belt, where Danny graduated in 1966. In 1968, Uncle Sam called and Danny was drafted into the Vietnam war. Luckily, he had some pretty good mechanic skills and was stationed in Korea working on Chinook helicopters during his tour from 1969-1970.
When he got home, he bought a fast car, his 1970 Charger, and asked his best girl Nadine Keller to marry him. Thankfully for us, she said yes, and they were married in August 1970. They celebrated their 54th wedding anniversary this past August and were truly in love until the end. Dawn was born in 1971, DaNelle in 1973 and Nettie came along in 1977 completing the family.
Danny was always a hard worker, and worked at the Anaconda Smelter in the early ‘70s. He started down the path of his true calling as a diesel mechanic at Americana Expressways Trucking in Great Falls until it closed. He went on to work at Hoven Equipment and later Torgerson’s until he retired. These were just his full time day jobs—he also worked full time on the farm, which he bought from Grandma Hazel after Grandad died in 1977. He kept the farm until 2012 when he finally sold it and retired from that as well.
He is survived by the love of his life, wife Nadine, and daughters Dawn (Ron) Brinkman, DaNelle (Hezekiah) Langston, and Nettie (Nate) Davison, all of Belt. He has eight grandchildren, Nikki Jones, Jami Dyson, Bryson Brinkman, Kyra (Draven) Roe, Emily (Kolter) Lund, Adam Langston, Grace Davison and Deanna Davison. But wait there’s more….three Great Grandchildren Emanual Sertain, Jacob Rodgers and Kinzi Jones, as well as two more on the way!
To read the complete obituary and share condolences, click here to visit the Croxford Funeral Home website.
