Ask Danielle Hardy what she loves about Glen Oaks, and she won’t give you a list. She will give you a feeling. “Our hearts are etched with love for this place,” and after two decades here, she has the stories to prove it.

That story starts, as so many Kentucky stories do, on the campus of the University of Kentucky. Jeremy and Danielle met as students, dated all four years, and married soon after graduation. Twenty-six years, four children (Riggs, Rollins, Sarah Kate and Lila), two golden retrievers, and two rescue cats later, they’ve built something that stretches well beyond their own front door.

The Hardys landed first in Moser Farms, spending a decade on Zermatt Court with young kids, a park down the street, and what Danielle still maintains is the finest sledding hill in the county. Ten years ago, they built a home in the Woods of Glen Oaks on the other side of a neighborhood they had no intention of leaving. “We came here for the schools and fell in love."

That love eventually reshaped Danielle’s work. For years she taught language arts at North Oldham Middle School. Then tragedy struck her campus, and she wanted to offer her students something she was not yet trained to give. She returned to school for a counseling degree to better support children navigating grief and trauma, and now counsels at Crestwood Elementary, a Title I school. “I spend my days pouring positivity and love into these kids, so they know they are worthy, limitless, and amazing,” she says. 

Jeremy works for Briova, a specialty pharmacy, though in this neighborhood he may be better known as a coach. A former cross-country coach at Goshen and North Oldham Middle School, he brought all four Hardy kids into the sport. Jeremy is also an Ironman, a title that took on new meaning when doctors found a tumor in his spine and warned he might not leave the operating room the same man. He faced it the way he faced every finish line: head down, moving forward. Today he is healthy and active. “It brought our family closer,” Danielle says, “and made us appreciate how lucky we are to live this life together.”

Riggs and Rollins both graduated from the University of Kentucky with business degrees and hope to continue the family legacy at Hardy Builders. Rollins currently helps grow JBT Clean Out, a junk removal and moving startup familiar to many Glen Oaks residents. Sarah Kate is a junior studying accounting, and Lila is a freshman in nursing. The Hardy women are devoted Chi Omegas. Danielle serves as an advisor, and even Riggs’ fiancée, Julia, is a sister. He proposed on the beach in Gulf Shores this past summer, the family’s favorite escape.

And then there is Banks. The golden retriever is training as a therapy dog at Crestwood Elementary, where he has become a true member of the school community with his own Instagram following at @mygoodboybanks.

Giving back is simply how the Hardys operate. They quietly meet needs at Crestwood, and each year they join the Pierce Walker Memorial Golf Scramble, honoring a Goshen cross country teammate lost too soon. “We try to give when we can with what we have,” Danielle says. “All year round, as needs arise around us.”

Look for them walking around the neighborhood with the pups, fishing in the pond, or out at the Club on a summer afternoon, and be sure to say hello.