Gary Gardner

1944 - 2014

Gary Gardner
September 17, 1944 - December 7, 2014
Santa Cruz, CA
Gary Gardner gracefully passed away at home on Sunday, December 7, 2014 following a brief battle with Melanoma. His wife and daughter were at his side. Gary was diagnosed with Stage 4 Melanoma three and a half months ago. Being the God loving, courageous man that he was, he was never afraid and took on his treatment with great bravery. Unfortunately, treatment was not successful but Gary remained loving, gracious and humorous to his last breath.
Gary was born in San Jose to Harold Kenneth Gardner and Irene Mary Dionne on September 17, 1944. He was the first of six children. He graduated from Fremont High School where he saw his wife, Marianne Gardner, for the first time. They lost contact for a number of years and re-met while working on their 20-year high school reunion committee. Gary, who was living in San Jose at the time, moved to Santa Cruz in 1982 and has been a local resident since.
Gary served as Controller of Falcon Trading Company/Sunridge Farms Products in Watsonville for the past 13-plus years. He said he never felt that work was "work. " He enjoyed both the challenge of numbers as well as the company of his coworker-friends.
Gary was a member of Twin Lakes Church and attended Sunday service and Bible study regularly. He was also a member of the Twin Lakes Sunshine Ministry, cooking and delivering meals to those who needed extra support. Gary was an introspective man who was open to learning about himself. Having been a member of a men's group years ago he affectionately named himself the, "Happy Otter" stating that Otters are hard-working and resourceful, playful and carefree. His life philosophy was to always be a Happy Otter. Close to his death, he told his family that 95% of his days were spent in appreciation, experiencing true happiness.
Gary was an avid traveler, visiting Thailand, Spain, Italy, India, Nepal, England, Austria and Germany. He loved to explore and learn about varying cultures. More recently he enjoyed annual family trips to Hawaii and Mexico with his wife, daughter and his daughter's dear high school friend (affectionately known as his "second daughter"), Nancy Nazari. He also spent many happy hours on road trips to Palm Springs with his high school buddies.
But at the end of the day, Gary thoroughly enjoyed his day-to-day life going to work, attending church, reading his Kindle, playing Sudoku, walking his dogs, chatting with his buddies about classic cars, playing softball, golfing and attending Stanford basketball games. Always a kid at heart, his favorite holidays were Halloween and Christmas – he felt that they were to always be celebrated in a big way! Gary was a man of service starting a bike refurbish program out of his home garage for children in need at Christmas time. He was an easy-going man who appreciated every day he lived.
Gary is survived by his loving wife of 31 years, Marianne Gardner; his daughter, Audre Nelson; his brothers Harvey, Gilbert and Greg Gardner; and sisters, Linnea Hallet, Denise Ryan and Kathy Bourdeau; his dearest friend and cousin, Les Gardner; his loyal dogs Jaxson and Sadie; and his first grandchildren, due in May 2015, twin girls, Olivia Blu and Savannah Grace.
Gary is preceded in death by his brother Gordon Gardner who passed at the age of 18 in Vietnam.
Gary was a loving husband, father, brother and friend who will be greatly missed. He was a kind man who, while quiet, had enormous strength in his silence. He was a man who led by example and touched the lives of many. He was funny, graceful, loving, and did we mention funny? He will be missed everyday of our lives. We love and miss you, Gary.
Services will be held on Thursday, December 18th at Twin Lakes Church in Monske Hall at 11am. In lieu of flowers the family asks that donations be made to Hospice of Santa Cruz County (www.hospicesantacruz.org).