Gardner Murray Stultz

1937 - 2024

Gardner Murray Stultz

October 11, 1937 - October 18, 2024

Cary, North Carolina - Gardner Murray Stultz, 87, of Cary, NC, passed away peacefully on October 18, 2024 at Heavenly Family Care Home in Rolesville, NC.

Gardner worked in the insurance industry in Hartford, CT after college and continued his career at the George Friedlander Company in Charleston, WV. He earned the CPCU designation and later became a risk manager for Union Boiler Corporation and the Willams group. Gardner made Charleston, WV his home for 50 years and was a member of the Charleston Rotary Club and president of the Harvard Club of WV. He served on the vestry at St. John's and was an usher at St. John's and Matthew's Episcopal Churches. He was a supporter of Charleston's Manna meal and volunteered serving lunches for many years. Gardner remained an active member of the East Chapel Hill Rotary Club in his retirement in North Carolina.

Gardner was a devoted father to his five children and worked tirelessly to provide a college education for each of them. He made time for each of his children and supported their various hobbies and interests. He took them camping, attended recitals, chaperoned school field trips, and drove his son to various skate parks. Gardner was the longest serving member of the Holz Elementary School Parent/Teacher organization. He valued family connections and drove the family to New England each summer to visit grandparents and cousins. Gardner enjoyed distance running and regularly entered the Charleston Distance Run, The Great Race in Pittsburgh, and the Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta. He later became a regular morning mall walker.

Gardner Murray Stultz was born on October 11, 1937 in Boston, MA to Marjorie May MacEachern and Irving Washburn Stultz. His father was a Navy chaplain and his mother was a nurse. He attended the Browne and Nichols School in Cambridge, MA and graduated from Harvard University in 1960. On December 31, 1977, he married Elizabeth Lee Estill. Gardner and Libby were happily married 47 years.

Gardner is survived by his wife, Elizabeth Estill Stultz, daughters, Laura Katherine Stultz (Juan Pablo Claude) of Birmingham, AL, Karen Elizabeth Stultz Connolly (John) of Cork, Ireland, Jan Stultz D'Arcy (Jim) of Malvern, PA and Margaret Louisa Stultz Polyak (Christian) of Detroit, MI and son John Gardner Stultz (Kate Mordarski) of Portland OR. He was a proud grandfather to his 10 grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his brother Newell Maynard Stultz of Barrington, RI.

A funeral service followed by a reception will be held on Saturday, November 9 at 11:00 a.m. at the Chapel of the Cross in Chapel Hill, NC, with The Revered Dr. Karen Connor McGugan officiating.

Condolences may be sent to the family at legacy.com.