Laurent Hardoy, 86 of King City, died peacefully on March 20, 2014 after a brief illness at Salinas Valley memorial hospital.

Laurent was born in the Basque region of France on May 29, 1927 to Pierre and Marianne Hardoy. He immigrated to the United States in March of 1957. He soon went to work at the French bakery in Sonoma. In 1961 he married the love of his life Fernande Sorhondo. They settled in Sonoma where in 1965 they had their son Michel.

In mid-1965 they moved to Redwood City where Laurent began a very successful landscape maintenance business on the San Francisco peninsula. He had a very green thumb and enjoyed his landscape business.

In 1993 Laurent and Fernande moved to southern Monterey County to be closer to their son and his family. Here again Laurent began a landscape maintenance business. He finally retired in 2004 at the age of 77. He continued to enjoy his gardening at his home where he grew numerous 500+ lbs. pumpkins which he entered in local contests. In fact, he had just planted some pepper seeds in February that had been sent to him from the Basque country.

In addition to gardening, he enjoyed sharing his culture with people. He was a member of numerous Basque clubs, and a founding member of the Basque cultural center in South San Francisco. Laurent and Fernande had made several trips back to their native land, including 2 recent trips where they took their sons family back with them.

He was preceded in death by his wife Fernande in November 2013. He is survived by his son Michel and daughter in law Denise of Lockwood, his grandson Matthew of Paso Robles, and his granddaughter Nicole of Chico. He is also survived by numerous nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews both in the United States and the Basque region.

In Lieu of flowers, the family requests remembrances be made to the Campaign for the preservation of Mission San Antonio de Padua, P.O. Box 450, King City, CA 93930 or to your preferred charity.

SERVICE INFORMATION:

A ROSARY / MASS is scheduled for 10:00 a.m., Friday, March 28th, 2014 at St. John's Catholic Church, 504 N. Third St., King City.