John William “Jack” Hardiman, Jr., 78, passed away, suddenly and gracefully, at Capital Health – Hopewell, on Thursday March 21, 2024, surrounded by his devoted family. Born in Trenton, New Jersey, Jack was a resident of Hamilton Township for more than seventy years. A graduate of St. Joseph’s University, Philadelphia, Pa., he majored in Marketing Management and spent most of his life in the furniture business, including many years as manager of the family business, Manning’s Furniture. Jack retired in 2007 to become a fulltime grandfather to his eleven grandchildren. Predeceased by his parents, John William Sr. and Valeria Soltesz-Hardiman, his sister Kathleen Hardiman, and granddaughter, Elizabeth James, he is survived by his best friend and loving wife of fifty-six years, Maribeth McEwan Hardiman, and his children: Megan Hardiman James, and her husband Bill James, John Hardiman III, Patrick Hardiman, and his wife, Amy King Hardiman, and Matthew Hardiman, and his wife, Kimberly Frascella Hardiman, along with the loves of his life, grandchildren William James, and his fiancée, Alyssa Kramarz, Brendan and Colin James, John P. “Jack” and Aidan Hardiman, Ryan, Lauren, and Emily Hardiman, and Lily, Matthew, and Hope Hardiman, brothers Thomas (MaryAnne), Kevin (Karen), and Dennis Hardiman, his cousins Margot, Bill, and Maureen Rick, sister-in-law Karen McEwan Kerr, brother-in-law, John McEwan and his wife, Judy, former daughter-in-law, Angelina Gallo-Hardiman, nieces and nephews, Jeffrey Kerr (Barbara), Colleen Kerr Cox (Matthew), Cyndi Kerr Holub (John), Michael McEwan (Natalie), Steven Hardiman and Erin Hardiman Crank, Kevin Hardiman, Jr., Katie Hardiman Eardley, Brian and Michael Hardiman, and special friends and lifelong neighbors Vincent Ardery Sr. and his wife Barbara, and their families. Jack was an active member of the Church of Sacred Heart in Trenton for most of his life, where he was a reader and dedicated participant on several committees. He was an avid sports fan, who earned the nickname “General Jack" for his well-planned system of ensuring each grandchild, all eleven of whom were active in local sports, always got equal time from him and Maribeth, having watched more than ten thousand games from tee-ball to the highest levels of high school, college, and American Legion baseball, football, basketball, softball, soccer, field hockey, tennis, dance and lacrosse. He never spoke against opposing players, and rooted for his children’s and grandchildren’s teammates as if they were his own. “Pop Pop,” as he was affectionately known in the later years of his life, was adored by everyone who knew him and helped make his years on this Earth as happy, rich, and rewarding as could be imagined. "Pop Pop was the best, the very, very best, he is irreplaceable", but his memory will live on through the countless lives he touched. “Here’s to absent friends, and the ones who are here now.” A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday March 27, 2024, at the Church of the Sacred Heart, 343 South Broad Street, Trenton New Jersey, followed by burial at St. Mary’s Cemetery,1200 Cedar Lane, Hamilton, New Jersey. Visitation for family and friends will be held on Tuesday March 26, 2024, from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Kingston and Kemp Funeral Home, 260 White Horse Avenue, Hamilton, New Jersey. Donations may be made in his memory to the Church of the Sacred Heart.