John Hale Gardner

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John Gardner Obituary

John Hale Gardner 1922 ~ 2008 John Hale Gardner, our beloved husband, father, brother, and friend, surrounded by his loving family, passed away on September 6, 2008 after succumbing to complications due to advanced age. John Hale was born August 22, 1922, in Logan, Utah, to Willard and Rebecca Viola Hale Gardner. He was the second youngest of seven children and their father was a professor of soil physics at Utah State Agricultural College near his home in Logan. John Hale studied physics at Utah State University, graduating in three years as the valedictorian of his class. Then he attended MIT and helped develop radar during World War II. He also attended Harvard University where he got his PhD in Physics. His graduate work contributed to three different Nobel prizes in physics. He married his high school sweetheart, Olga Hellen Dotson, in the Boston Mission Home on July 23, 1943, and they were sealed the next year in the Logan Temple. He was devoted to Olga his whole life and was her greatest fan, as she had a beautiful soprano voice and shared her talent in many ways. They had eight wonderful children, as he would always say, who brought him great joy. In 1949 he came to Provo to teach physics, mathematics, and astronomy at a much smaller Brigham Young University. He loved his students and colleagues, and he was instrumental in the growth and development of BYU. He particularly enjoyed teaching the Honor's Colloquium, and he was beloved and influential in the lives of his students. John Hale had a strong testimony of Jesus Christ, and he served in many capacities in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, including bishop, high councilman, and gospel doctrine teacher. He is survived by his wife, Olga, of 65 years; eight children: Helen Elizabeth (Tracy Hall), John Willard (Kathryn), Kristin (Ron Spears), Rebecca, Robert Dotson (Deborah), Eric William (Connie), Ann, Margaret Irene (John Naegle); 37 grandchildren; 36 great-grandchildren; one sister, Relda (Frank Bringhurst), and one brother Willard (DeAnn). Funeral services will be held on Friday, Oct. 3, 2008 at 2 p.m. at the Oak Hills 1st Ward, 1038 N. 1200 E., Provo. Friends may call at the Ward Chapel on Thursday evening 6-8 p.m. or on Friday one hour prior to services. Interment Provo City Cemetery. Condolences may be sent to [email protected].

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Published by Lincoln Journal Star on Sep. 28, 2008.

Memories and Condolences
for John Gardner

5 Entries

Lisa Wight

October 9, 2008

We'll miss you Grandpa!!

Karl Nelson

October 5, 2008

Uncle Hale's interests extended far beyond physics, and he used his
physicist's perspective to enhance our appreciation for fields as diverse as
literature, history, and religion.

Always intrigued by symmetry wherever it occurred, he taught students how to
appreciate literature of authors from Plato to Annie Dillard by looking for
symmetry within and between their works.

When he taught about history, he emphasized the role of numbers and
mathematics in shaping that history, frequently citing Pythagoras: "All
things are numbers." To him, mathematics really were the "music of the
spheres."

He even extended his mathematical thinking to religion, using the concept of
symmetry to underscore Jesus' teaching that "...whatsoever ye would that men
should do to you, do ye even so to them...."

He taught his students (mathematicians and non-mathematicians alike) how to
apply calculus to the parable of the talents (Matthew 25) by solving the
differential equation described in it. The results of the of the faithful
servants' efforts gave the details. He would teach in his clever way, just
enough calculus for all the students to follow his train of thought; then,
presenting the solution to the equation (the exponential function), he could
show how the conclusion of the parable ("For unto every one that hath shall
be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be
taken away even that which he hath.") follows necessarily from the equation.

For him, the self-symmetry of the exponential function explained how Jesus
could expect us to "Be ... therefore perfect, even as [our] Father which is
in heaven is perfect." Although separated by an inconceivable distance, we
and our Father which is in heaven could both be perfect by following the
same perfect path (the exponential curve).

It is Uncle Hale's faith, his interest in others, and his desire to help
them "capture" these and other important concepts that have touched me and
that I will continue to remember.

John W. Gardner

October 1, 2008

In lieu of flowers you may donate to John Hale Gardner's Endowment Fund for a physics scholarship at BYU. Thank you kindly. Contact [email protected]

Vicki (Naylor) and Matt Mataele

September 29, 2008

I will always remember Uncle Hale as a man with integrity and a great sense of humor! Our sympathy to our Aunt Olga and our cousins and their families.

John Willard Gardner

September 28, 2008

John Hale Gardner was also survived by his older brother Walter Hale Gardner, living in Provo (this was inadvertently left out of the obituary). Also, the date of death was September 26, 2008 and the date of birth was August 24, 1922.

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