Chad Hunter Hardeman

Chad Hunter Hardeman died on Aug. 9, 2018, two days shy of his 43rd birthday — a note so off-key no one can believe it.

For Chad wasn’t a fan of the off-key. He frequently railed against minimalist and avant-garde trends in modern classical music. Chad was a maximalist, embracing the bombastic with joy and enthusiasm — a joy he brought into so many lives with his wit and grace.

Chad loved no composer more than Beethoven. Studying music at the University of Tennessee (Knoxville and Chattanooga both) in the 1990s, this was not a “cool” stance. But that was Chad, a romantic (and a Romantic) to the core. He was also a truly kind and generous man, someone who took Jesus’ admonition to love one another to heart.

He also loved the band Chicago more than possibly any other human in existence, an opinion he defended for longer than Peter Cetera was the lead singer. Though none of Chad’s many bands had Chicago’s success, that did not limit his prolific songwriting output. Very little made Chad happier than playing piano (or sometimes bass), even when covering songs he didn’t like.

Chad was unbelievably smart, probably one of the smartest people to ever graduate from Chattanooga Christian School. Still, he remained a dedicated fan of the Vols and the Titans both, suffering through almost every football game.

But his true love was baseball, especially the Cincinnati Reds. Chad loved the sport so much that he would keep stats for entire seasons of baseball video games, so he could then point out how unrealistic they were. He also firmly believed Pete Rose belongs in the Hall of Fame.

Yet as much as he loved music and sports, his paralegal work and never-ending cups of coffee, as much as he loved his family and friends, there was absolutely nothing, nothing that Chad loved more than his daughter Rebecca, nicknamed “Bug.” To see the two of them together was to witness something special, and as much as everyone who knew him will miss Chad, no one will miss him more than her.

Chad is survived by his daughter; his brother Josh Hardeman (Mallory); niece Lydia and nephew Joshua James Hardeman; his mother Anita Gibbs (Danny); his father Christopher Hardeman (Rebecca); his grandfather James Bacon; and numerous aunts, uncles and cousins. His grandparents May Ina Bacon and James and Vivian Hardeman predeceased him.

Arrangements are being handled by Companion Funeral Home in Cleveland. A celebration of Chad’s life is planned for Aug. 26 at 2 p.m. at Solway United Methodist Church at 3300 Guinn Road in Knoxville, Tenn. In lieu of flowers the family requests donations be made in Chad’s name to the Salvation Army or Compassion International.