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He earned respect, because he gave everyone respect. He had expectations higher than anyone could ever reach, but he inspired all of us to do better," said Britt Mayhew, who worked with Harding for four years at the Lansing Wal-Mart Supercenter store he managed. "You always wanted John to be proud of you."

The Chesaning man died last Saturday morning after his car crashed on Baldwin Rd., between Brennan and Hemlock Roads, in Brady Township. Law enforcement officials believe he fell asleep driving home after visiting with friends. He was 34 years old.

This week friends, loved ones and co-workers remembered a man who achieved personal and professional success at a young age.

Harding began working for Wal-Mart after high school and worked his way up from an hourly job in the toy department to a widely respected store manager. His father, John Harding III said the company was unsure about promoting him to manager at such a young age, but he quickly proved his mettle.

"They brought him in whenever they needed to turn a store around -they knew he could get the job done," he said.

Since joining Wal-Mart, he had worked in supervisory positions at stores in Owosso, St. Johns, Hastings and Charlotte. Co-workers credit him with breathing new life into the Lansing location since he became store manager four years ago.

Harding's impact on the company and his co-workers was clear on Tuesday, when Wal-Mart charted two passenger busses to bring grieving employees from Lansing to the funeral at Chesaning's Trinity United Methodist Church. John Harding III said he was moved when he heard the emotional testimonials from people who worked with his son.

"You weren't employee number 423 to John. He knew your face, he knew your story," Mayhew explained. "He cared about his employees as people."

She said Harding would never ask his employees to take on chores that he would not do himself. When departments were required to come in on third shift for special projects, he came in and worked alongside his employees until the job was done."He left some very big shoes to fill. We could never replace John," she said.In his spare time he was an avid outdoorsman, who took his vacation during the first week of hunting season each year. He was a skilled bow and rifle hunter and fisherman, and enjoyed spending time with his children, Madison and John Harding V.

"Ever since he was young, he very seldom went a year without getting a deer. He was successful at that, too," Harding III said.