Necrology

David Ellsworth Harden '48

Sep. 12, 1927-Sep. 7, 2018

David Ellsworth Harden ’48, a fourth-generation quality furniture manufacturing executive and a life trustee of the College, was born on Sept. 12, 1927, in McConnellsville, N.Y., the son of the former Gladys Link and Harry Harden, president of the family business, Harden Furniture in McConnellsville. He graduated in 1944 from Camden (N.Y.) High School.

At Hamilton, Harden majored in economics and history; he graduated in 1949. He was a member of the golf team, College Choir, Buffers, Hamiltonews, and Alpha Delta Phi. In a 1990 Hamilton alumni survey, Harden noted that “Hamilton gave me confidence, some superb professors, and, despite overwhelming odds, did manage to instill some knowledge in this raw recruit.”

After graduation, Harden made the short trip home to join the salesforce at his family’s company founded in 1844. After his father died suddenly in 1950, the young Harden became treasurer of the company at just 23 years of age. In 1955, he took over the role of president and CEO and remained in that leadership position until his retirement in 1992. 

During his tenure, Harden Furniture became known as a leading supplier of high-quality furniture reputed for its fine craftsmanship and traditional designs. Harden understood product design and marketing, as well as the value of relationships in selling home-furnishings products.

A leader in his community and within the industry, Harden received in 1991 the Corning Award for Excellence, the most prestigious award from The Business Council of New York State, of which he had served as a chairman. He also led the National Association of Furniture Manufacturers and served as president of the New York State Golf Association. Harden served on numerous corporate boards, including Oneida Ltd., Merchants National Bank and Trust Co., Utica Mutual Insurance Co., and The New York Design Center.

Throughout his life, Harden remained firmly rooted at Hamilton. He joined the board as an alumni trustee in 1977 and became a charter trustee in 1981, serving as chair of the budget and finance committee and heading the major gifts committee for the 175th Anniversary Campaign. In 1996, Hamilton presented him with an honorary degree.

In 1991, following the death of his wife, the former Ann Miller, whom he had married in 1955, Harden established a prize scholarship in her honor awarded each year to the most promising woman painter at the end of her sophomore year. “Fittingly, the painting studio in the Kennedy Center is dedicated in Ann’s memory,” noted President David Wippman in a note to the campus community announcing Harden’s death.

The Harden legacy has carried on in another proud Hamilton tradition. Each year at Commencement, seniors are presented with a Harden-made wooden cane, the head of which forms a Continental tricorn hat in honor of Baron von Steuben, drillmaster of Washington’s Continental Army who laid the cornerstone of the Hamilton-Oneida Academy.

Harden enjoyed travel and was a lifelong golfer who belonged to many clubs, including the McConnellsville Golf Club, the Hyannisport Club, the Onondaga Golf & Country Club, and the Lost Tree Club.

David E. Harden died on Sept. 7, 2018. He was 90 and is survived by a son, a daughter, and five grandchildren.

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