Verna Monica GARDENER

GARDENER, Verna Monica, 89, entered into rest on Saturday, August 22, 2015. Verna was born in Jamaica, West Indies where she attended St. Hilda's Diocesan High School. She worked for a while in the Water Commission then left for England where she graduated as a mental health nurse at the famous Maudsley Hospital in London. She then came to the US where she worked for many years at the New York Institute of Technology and there she got her BS Degree. After retiring from the college, she came to live in Tampa in 1992. For many years she ran a bridge club, sold African jewelry and crafts at Christmas time, organized the Church Directory and the United Thank Offering and was on the Altar Guild. She was also a member of the American Association of University Women and enjoyed doing the Directory each year. Verna leaves behind her beloved husband Maurice W Gardener; children, Ingrid Volkerts (Henry), Kurt Atkinson (Ana) and Eliot Gardener (Kerin); and six grandchildren, Jessica and Rachel Volkerts, Talya and Bjorn Atkinson, and Nicole and Hayden Gardener. Services will be held at a later date, donations can be made to LifePath hospice.