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John Gardner Obituary
John Harland Gardner
November 15, 1927 - January 30, 2024
John Harland Gardner, 96, of Waterloo, died Tuesday, Jan. 30 at Wellspring Living Health Center at Friendship Village.
He was born Nov. 15, 1927 in Frederic, WI, son of Harry and Cleo Smelser Gardner. He married Elizabeth Ann Gifford on May 3, 1952 in Waterloo. She died May 3, 2007.
John honorably served our country with the U.S. Navy during WWII. John was a masonry contractor in Waterloo for many years. He built many block basements, but his true passion was building fireplaces. He and Betty Ann moved to Peoria, AZ, where John continued working his trade until his retirement.
Survivors, include: many nieces and nephews.
Preceded in death by: his wife, Betty Ann; two brothers, Alfred Gardner and Harry "Adrian" Gardner; five sisters: Doris Augustson, Norma Blumgren, Arlene Burns, Margaret Kinney and Edith Cooley.
Services will be 11:00 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 6 at Hagarty-Waychoff-Grarup Funeral Service on West Ridgeway with burial in Garden of Memories Cemetery. Public visitation will be for one hour before the service on Tuesday.
Memorials: may be directed to the family.
Online condolences may be left at www.hagartywaychoffgrarup.com
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Memories and Condolences
for John Gardner
Sponsored by Hagarty-Waychoff-Grarup Funeral Service on West Ridgeway.
1 Entry
susan j faes
February 2, 2024
In 2007, when Uncle John moved back to Waterloo, Kevin and I got reacquainted with Uncle John on our visits from Bettendorf. My mother, Edith Cooley, always made sure to include Uncle John in our visits. We played pool, ate out, and listened to his many favorite life stories. Uncle John shared how he taught himself how to splice cable by reading a Navy manual and was proud that his CO made a special trip to his barracks to say good bye when he left the Navy. He talked about how he was a orphan at a young age and worked on a neighbor's farm milking the cows. He said this is was how he got strong arms. At age 17, while doing push ups as part of his Navy training, he shared that he had surpassed over 100 push ups and his Navy trainer had to tell him, "Stop, that's enough," He was very proud of this. He was a little bit of a entrepreneur selling pop and candy bars to his Navy barracks buddies to make spending money. He loved Peoria, AZ where he and Aunt Betty Anne retired. He played a lot of golf there. He loved talking about my brother, George, and how he began working for him at the young age of 13. A bond that continued until the end. A special thanks to my brother George, Cathy, and his family for taking care of my Uncle John and making him part of their family. Here's to a good man. Rest in peace Uncle John. Love Sue and Kevin
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Hagarty-Waychoff-Grarup Funeral Service on West Ridgeway300 West Ridgeway, Waterloo, IA 50701
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