On Tuesday, September 17th, Elmore Anthony “Tony” Wardlow climbed the stairway to heaven to join his almighty spirit in the sky. He was preceded in death by his parents, Elmore and Eloise Wardlow of Stanford, and his brother, Jeffrey Lee Wardlow of Danville. He has one surviving brother, William Parker “Billy” Wardlow, of Morehead. He also leaves behind his children, Kathryn Wardlow Decker of Richmond and Spencer Wardlow of Bedford, Indiana, plus his lifelong companion, Linda Wardlow. 

As a child, Tony attended school in Crab Orchard, Kentucky, later graduating from Cumberland College and Eastern Kentucky University. He started his career as an educator in Lincoln County, eventually finding his way to teach the incarcerated at Luther Luckett Correctional Complex and Northpoint Training Center, opportunities that eventually called his heart to study Criminal Justice and complete his career as a Probation and Parole Officer serving Danville and the surrounding areas. His parolees actively sought him out for mentorship and guidance, even when they already knew the impending consequences of their choices, because he was fair, allowing them to at least finish their beer before offering them a ride to jail. He never took his job too seriously though, hiding Nerf guns and SuperSoakers behind his desk to recreate the scene from Scarface for unsuspecting colleagues. Perhaps, you may have also known him from his various stints recommending scratch-off lottery tickets, Pick 3 numbers, and pull tabs at local gas stations in Danville. One of his favorite endeavors, however, was chauffeuring senior citizens as a Bluegrass Community Transit driver. He loved swapping anecdotes with his passengers. Dad always felt that only the good die young, therefore he spent his retirement days slinging cards and enjoying cheap cigars with his buddies at The Golden Nugget Pawn Shop in Lancaster until he could no longer do so.

Throughout his adulthood, he capitalized on his passion for coaching, playing, and spectating basketball, baseball and golf, lettering at Cumberland in all three and at one point earning a medal for adult softball at the Bluegrass State Games. He was a fierce competitor, known for giving referees an escort to their cars after the final buzzer. He molded his offspring into multi-sport athletes through late-night private coaching sessions, not that either of us were ever going to be Olympians. His pulse beat to the rhythm of rock and roll music. He was an expert car karaoker, who told epic stories of enjoying a cold adult beverage and a smoke with Jimmy Buffett on one of his first tours through Kentucky in the 1970s. He maintained his iconic frosted mullet up until his passing. Dad, in fact, identified as Parrot Head for life.

Overall, Tony Wardlow was a people person. A loyal companion across many classes and genres. Hopefully his loud, boisterous laugh and sarcastic tone will continue to resonate in the minds and hearts of those he loved for many days to come.