Birth date: Apr 26, 1937 Death date: Apr 18, 2017
On Tuesday, April 18, 2017 Stanley Gardner passed away peacefully in Tucson, AZ, after a short battle with Pancreatic Cancer. He was surrounded and comforted in his final days by family. He was welcomed into the loving arms of Jes Read Obituary
HE was a great neighbor and i am very sad to learn he died. i miss him and sondra very much and hope they have found peace together. Owen Flemming
Late on April 18, our family and this world lost a very good man. He was a good husband, a good father, a good grandfather, a good great-grandfather, a good son, a good brother, a good friend, a good neighbor... a genuinely good man.
Dad was a compassionate, loving man who, while sometimes seeming stoic or emotionally detached, was really incredibly loving, kind, gentle, supportive, affectionate, funny, playful, and warm. We love you very much, Dad.
A few of us had the honor and privilege and blessing of being here in Tucson with him over the past several weeks and held his hands through much of his end-of-life journey. This experience has given me and many other friends and family members an opportunity to live out those final weeks, days, and hours with him.
Rest in peace, Dad. I'll always count you among my very dearest of friends and can't wait to see you again in heaven.
There is a "Family Tree" section of this on-line obituary page. As many family members are aware, Dad/Grandpa/Stan had done an amazing job of recording the genealogical history at "Tribal Pages" here:
http://isaacgardner.tribalpages.com/
If you would like to add to or update any of the information there, please let us know here on the tribute wall and we will follow up.
How does one even begin to sum up a lifetime of memories, in one sweet and concise "comment" ...? I apologize in advance if this grows long, but I have a tendency to wear my heart on my sleeve.
Some of my fondest memories of Grandpa Stan are held in the heart of Iowa. I will never forget those velvety red steps at Great Grandma and Grandpa's house; I will always cherish our trips to the square; Nilla Wafers will always hold a special place in my heart (and stomach).
If I'm being honest, Grandpa Stan intimidated me in my early years. I'm not sure if it was his towering height and booming voice, or the sparklers he handed to us young kids. Either way, while I'm not much taller now than I was in the mid 1990's, I realized that there was never any reason to be intimidated by the Gentle Giant that Grandpa Stan was.
I admired how Grandpa brought a content and thoughtful presence to our home -- or maybe that was Grandma Sondra! ... At any rate, I credit a good deal of my introverted and analytical thinking to Grandpa Stan. Both Grandpa and Grandma had a way of making me feel so at peace. That is, until someone hit Grandpa's funny bone. His smile would stretch a mile wide and his laugh would shake the house. He made himself laugh plenty of times too, particularly when he could fool us kids with "Barking Spiders".
More recently, I enjoyed visiting Grandpa Stan in Asheville. Grandpa treated us to his SPECIAL pancakes almost every morning -- what a treasure that will always be to me. Seeing the gorgeous (albeit terrifying) mountains, seeing (from the OUTside) Biltmore, and visiting some of Grandpa's favorite places. I will always hold that visit in the depths of my heart. I have a shirt from that trip, that says "Altitude affects Attitude" ... these days it's looking a little worn and old, but I don't know that I'll ever be able to part with it.
Grandpa Stan, I will ALWAYS love you. My kids will know who you were, and what you meant to this family. They will know our favorite stories, and laugh along with us. Thank you for giving life to your family, and loving ALL of us with all that you were. I will miss you dearly, until I can see you again.
Love you ALWAYS,
Becca
This is all I could put down in writing for grandpa's service, but perhaps it will be seen and encourage others too:
I am encouraged in my own feelings of inadequacy as a father by his ability to always find a way to connect and heal bonds with his kids. He was always, from what I saw, able to bring you all together and be there for you all when he was needed. And I was honored to be a part of seeing him do it one last time with all 5 of his kids that Saturday night at the mom and dad's place.
Even in his struggle and end of life walk he was bringing his kids together and keeping the familial bonds together and loving. Even if I mess up as dad now and then I can look at him and know that my kids will still see me as dad and let the love that only a tight family can have will exist.
I spent time with Stan and Sondra in Arizona in 2013 after my son died. They were both wonderful to me and it was a comforting healing experience to walk, talk, read, and hike with them. Having been a friend of Sondra's since college days, I was very happy to see that Stan took such good care of her after her health declined.. Stan was a very good caregiver and Sonnie was very appreciative of him.
My sympathy goes out to his wonderful caring family:who were there for their father in such a loving way in his last days. The apples don't fall far from the tree, May you all celebrate his life knowingthat you did all that you could possibly do for your father.
Karen Klingel
I have so many amazing memories with Grandpa. From the many childhood memories in Osceola, IA every 4th of July to getting married. I can't remember a time with Grandpa that I wasn't happy.
One of my favorite memories of Grandpa is visiting him and Grandma Sondra in Sierra Vista, AZ for spring break. We went for walks every morning and got to see a lot of fun different places around Sierra Vista.
I can most definitely give credit for my love of Sci-Fi movies, fast cars and electronics in general in part to Grandpa Stan. He was such a wonderful man and a great influence for us growing up.
You will be missed Grandpa. Rest assured that you taught us all a lot and that we will all lead better lives because of you.
