Helena Hardy

Helena (Nell) Tredway Hardy, devoted mother and accomplished equestrian, died Monday at home after waging a brave eight-year battle against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). She was 59.

Readers of this newspaper will recognize Nell’s name, as she chronicled her life with ALS in a monthly column “Not to Worry” for several years. Her writing covered topics from meeting her idol of daytime talk shows Ellen DeGeneres, to her introspective views of the changes that ALS brought to her life and the lives of those who loved her.

Born October 20, 1957, Nell was the daughter of Dr. John B. and Helena E. Tredway. After growing up in the Belle Valley area of Erie, she moved with her family to Fairview, where she graduated from high school in 1975. Nell earned her bachelor’s degree from the S.I. Newhouse School of Journalism at Syracuse University.  

In her columns she wrote that she first rode horses at age 4. Between lessons in Erie and training at Brown Ledge Camp in Vermont, Nell was an accomplished rider at a very young age. She had her first horse, Cinnamon, by age 16. She loved to compete—and was good at it—building a treasure of accolades.

After living in England for several years with her former husband Barry Hardy and their three small boys, Nell brought her young sons back to Fairview where she founded and owned Ridgewood Farm on Route 5 for several years. There, she put training and miles into the thoroughbreds she bought and made them ready for people looking for horses that could go through the levels. She was a very active member of the Erie Hunt and Saddle Club as well as United States Eventing Association. Nell earned places in as high as the preliminary level of combined training. 

With her ALS diagnosis in 2009, Nell traded in that farm for a condominium a stone’s throw from the Fairview High School. But there was no downsizing of activities those first few years after her diagnosis. Every month there was a column to “eye-type.” Every year, she made trips to New York City the first Saturday in May for the Walk to Defeat ALS. Every year, she and friends would make their trek to the Kentucky Horse Park to watch the Rolex International 4 Star events. There were meetings every week with her beloved fellowship.

Her founding of a support group for people with ALS under the auspices of the Muscular Dystrophy Association was just one of her accomplishments that earned her the Award of Courage from the Sisters of Saint Joseph.

“Within reason, I can do anything,“ she once wrote. “It may take a village, but I am standing up to this disease: I will not let it squish my spirit.”  

Survivors include her three sons, Brendan E. Hardy of Raleigh, NC, Connor P. Hardy of Pittsburgh, PA, and Emmet B. Hardy of Erie; a brother, Philip M. (and Laurie) Tredway of Erie; a sister, Caroline B. Tredway of Nyack, NY; and seven nieces and nephews. Shelby, a Springer Spaniel, and Rico, her Chihuahua who found himself a home on her lap the last few years, also survive her. Nell was predeceased by three brothers, Robert E. Tredway, William P. Tredway, and John B. Tredway.

Friends may call at the Burton Westlake Funeral Home, 3801 West 26^th Street, (at Powell Avenue) on Saturday, July 8^th, 2017 from  9 a.m. until the time of service there at 11 a.m.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the ALS Association, Western Pennsylvania Chapter, 416 Lincoln Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15209 or at their website, www.cure4ALS.org; or MAC Angels Foundation (supporting families with ALS), 2005 Palmer Avenue, Suite 291, Larchmont, NY 10538.