Donald S. GARDNER

GARDNER, STACY, BARDEN, HARWART, BUTLER, WALSH, SCHLONGER, GREENLEE, VOELK

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 9/30/2006 at 20:39:42

Donald S. Gardner, 75, a former Clarion resident, died at his home in Birchwood, Wisconsin on Wednesday, February 1, 2006. Memorial services were held on Tuesday, February 17th, at the Marantha Evangelical Free Church in Rice Lake, Minnesota. Rev. Dan Reid, Chaplain Paul Harwart and Rev. Paul Green officiated with interment in the Northern Wisconsin Veterans Cemetery in Spooner, Wisconsin.

Donald S. Gardner was born June 29, 1930 in Youngstown, Ohio, the son of Fay and Gladys (Stacy) Gardner. He graduated from the Clarion High School in 1948. After graduation he entered the United States Air Force for six years and received an Honorable Discharge in 1954. He then attended a vocational school and graduated with an Associate Degree in Accounting. He was married to Margaret Barden in 1955 in Cedar Rapids and they had four children. Donald worked for and then owned and operated the Barden Locker in Clarion for many years before moving to Ridgeport, where he owned a locker as well. They later moved to Boone and he retired in 1992. He moved back to Clarion for awhile and married Elfrieda Harwart on July 13, 1996 in Hopkins, Minnesota. In 2000, they built a home and moved to Birchwood, Wisconsin where they resided at the time of his death.

Donald is survived by his wife, Elfrieda Gardner of Birchwood, Wisconsin; eight children, Jay Dean Gardner, Bryan Gardner, Julie Butler, James Gardner, Paul Harwart, Elizabeth Walsh, Barbara Schlonger and Heidi Greenlee; 21 grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren; two brothers, Richard and Roger Gardner; a sister, Marion Voelk; many nephews and nieces. He was preceded in death by his parents. The family has requested that memorials be sent to the Wright County Center Cardio/Pulmonary Unit.

February 16, 2006
© Wright County Monitor 2006