Obituaries : Philip J. Hardison, 38; Ventura Architect

Philip J. Hardison, a lifelong Ventura County resident, died Sunday after a long illness. He was 38.

Hardison was born Feb. 9, 1957, in Santa Paula and attended Fillmore schools, graduating from Fillmore High School in 1975.

He graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s School of Architecture and was an architect with Rasmussen and Associates in Ventura, where he began 19 years ago.

“He had two main interests,” said his mother, Betty Hardison of Fillmore. “One was preservation of historic buildings and homes, especially in Ventura County. And he was an expert on the Titanic. I think he could have told you any statistic about the Titanic.”

A member of the worldwide Titanic Historical Society, Hardison had attended their yearly meetings.

Hardison was a member and past chairman of Ventura’s Historic Preservation Commission, architectural advisor to the Ventura County Cultural Heritage Board, a docent at the Santa Paula Union Oil Museum and a member of the American Institute of Architects.

“He did his college thesis on Piru Mansion and took over 400 pictures of the mansion’s details,” his mother said. “It burned to the ground during his senior year in college and his pictures were used for the restoration of the mansion. He was also very active in the restoration of the Dudley House in Ventura, working on it and organizing community tours.”

Hardison is survived by his parents, Russell and Betty Hardison of Fillmore; his brother, Tom Hardison of Ventura; his sister, Gerry Sauer of Newhall; his aunts, Dorothy Nickerson of Santa Barbara, Evelyn Davis of Fillmore and Betty Jean Burritt of Fillmore; and his niece, Stephanie Sauer of Newhall.

A funeral Mass is scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday at the San Buenaventura Mission in Ventura. A private burial will follow at Bardsdale Cemetery in Fillmore.

Memorial donations may be made to the library of the Ventura County Museum of History and Art in Ventura.

Arrangements are under direction of the Joseph P. Reardon Funeral Home in Ventura.

Bellucci, Anthony Joseph, 87, of Thousand Oaks, retired auto body and fender repair shop owner / operator. Sunset Plan, Westlake Village.

Smith, Sidney P., 93, of Oak View,, retired pest control operator. Clausen Funeral Home, Ojai.

Ventura County obituaries are published free of charge as a public service to readers. Obituaries are based on information provided by mortuaries.