Arthur Henry Dardia, Jr.

Arthur (Art) Henry Dardia Jr., 72, passed away on April 1, 2023 at his home in Wayne, New Jersey.  He was born on September 16, 1950 in Paterson, New Jersey to Arthur Henry Dardia Sr. and Edythe Dardia, both deceased.

Art is survived by his loving wife, Barbara Feddema Dardia, their two children, Arthur Henry Dardia III and his wife Julia Hillje Dardia of Wayne, NJ, and Kristen Dardia Turner and her husband Christopher Turner of Jersey City, NJ, and three grandchildren, Arthur Henry Dardia IV, Isabelle Dardia, and Cameron Turner.  He is also survived by his sisters, Judith and her husband Bruce Bristol of Wharton, NJ, and Leslie and her husband Leo Mozulay of Oak Ridge, NJ and several nieces and nephews.

Art graduated from Wayne Valley High School in 1968. He earned a BS in Marketing from Fairleigh Dickinson University in 1972. Art was an avid golfer, playing on both his high school and college golf teams while also finding time to hustle at the county golf course.  He was a member of Packanack Golf Club where he consistently received the award for “Best Swing”. Art qualified for the Northeast Regional Amateur Golf Tournament, but missed qualifying by a stroke when going on to the national tournament. Shortly after college, he pursued a professional golfing career and traveled to Qualifying School in Florida where, after playing with the likes of Tom Watson, Art realized his career lay in his family’s business, Neil Hardware in Paterson, NJ.

While in school, he also played bass guitar in The Garden, a band he formed with high school classmates. The Garden played at Fairleigh Dickinson University as backup for Wilson Picket, competed in numerous Battle of the Bands, and produced an original song, “Almost Making It.”

Art had begun working part-time at Neil Hardware in his early teen years and after returning from Qualifying School continued on full time until his retirement in 2014. Art’s experience in the hardware business allowed him to take on numerous projects at home. He could not pass up scrap lumber and always had a stash to repair or to build something whenever the inspiration hit him. He often happily assisted friends and family in their own projects. He was an engineer by nature with a compulsion to figure out how everything worked, and consequently, he could fix anything that was fixable.

Art was also passionate about baseball, making the All-Star Little League team as catcher. He later became a Little League Board member when his son started playing. He formulated a plan to turn the wooded property adjoining the Little League fields in Wayne, New Jersey into an additional field for younger players, and he oversaw the project through its completion. He also combined his hardware experience with his wife’s home computer-based business, and revived the field sign programs as a source of funding for lighting the existing fields.

Art was deeply involved in the lives of his two children, Art and Kristen. Even though running a retail hardware business leaves little time on Saturdays, Art made the time to coach both of his children’s soccer teams. Art enthusiastically shared each of his passions with his kids, and his interests became their interests too. Art spent many weekends golfing with his family, taught his kids how to be handy around the house, and always had their backs.

 In retirement, Art found time to continue golfing, fishing, entertaining friends, and family and traveling with his wife to Alaska and China. Art was incredibly kind and considerate. His friends and family will fondly remember the little things he would do to help others. He was patient and generous with a simple and humble outlook on life. He was a devoted husband, father, grandfather, brother, and friend. 

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Wayne Township Memorial First Aid Squad P.O. Box 2004 Wayne, NJ 07474