Robert Weld Harding

 

Robert Weld Harding, age 74 of Franklin, TN passed away peacefully at home on December 6, 2023. Rob was born in New Rochelle, NY in 1949, but spent his formative years in Augusta, GA and considered himself a Georgia boy if anyone asked. Rob attended middle school and high school at Augusta Prep where he played soccer and was a National Merit finalist. High school friends lovingly referred to him as Bozo. After graduating from Augusta Prep, he headed up north to Amherst College, his father’s alma mater, where he continued to pIay soccer and received his BS in Sociology in 1972. His time and reputation at Amherst may best be illustrated by the fact that many people were surprised to find he was still alive at his 40th reunion. 

 

Alive he was though, having received an MBA from Iona College, marrying the love of his life, Susan (Hersey) Harding, and settling down in St. Louis, MO. In 1992, Rob left his job with Electronic Laser Forms (ELF) to start his own company Forms Automation Systems Technology, later shortened to FormFast, and then rebranded to Interlace Health. Rob loved his family more than anything but Interlace Health and a cold Coca-Cola both came very close behind. At Interlace, he built an incredible company that serves over 1500 healthcare clients and employs more than 70 people worldwide, which he passed on to his daughter, Allison (Harding) Reichenbach several years before his passing. She of course insisted on ignoring all of his advice to his face, but secretly followed his guidance and is incredibly grateful for the opportunity to continue his legacy (she is also the author of this obituary). 

 

Rob and Susan moved to Franklin in 2015 to be closer to Allison and to better grits according to him. Since moving to Tennessee, he has been a supporter of a number of charities, but most active with Project Return, Sons of the American Revolution, and the Franklin Noon Rotary Club. Most people who knew Rob would say he was generous to a fault. He had a song for absolutely everything and if one didn’t exist, he would make one up. He said more than once that stop signs were just a suggestion. He was notorious for being the only one not muted, out on a walk somewhere, during every company Zoom call. He loved to be outside, spending hours out hiking and later, hours on the porch in the sunshine. He did absolutely everything wearing Crocs. 

 

Rob was preceded in death by his loving parents Robert Weld Harding and Nancy Harding (nee Whiting). He will be sorely missed and survived by his wife Susan Harding, daughter Allison Harding Reichenbach, son-in-law Brian Reichenbach, granddaughters Evelyn and Eleanor Reichenbach, sister Kate Wanderer (husband Dean, children Amy (Jon) and Edward (Susan)), beloved corgi Dexter, and many in-laws, nieces, nephews, friends, and family too numerous to list but not forgotten.

 

Rob was himself till the very end, writing down the lyrics to James Brown’s I Feel Good in his notebook when he could no longer burst into song and suggesting we solve all the existential questions with “coin flips and bad guesses”. We loved him greatly, we will miss him dearly, and we hope in his honor you’ll crack open a Coke and leave yourself off mute on a few upcoming work calls. 

In lieu of flowers and an in-person memorial service, the family asks that you consider making a donation of time or resources to any of the following causes loved by Rob:

 

Project Return of Nashville https://projectreturninc.org  Franklin Noon Rotary Club Foundation:  2020 Fieldstone Farms Parkway, Suite 900-247

Franklin, TN 37069

Friends of Warner Parks https://warnerparks.org

 

A virtual memorial will be held on Saturday, January 6th. Details will be forthcoming.