Earl Leroy Gardner

Earl Leroy Gardner, 91, peacefully passed away on
April 24th, 2006 at his home in Nibley, Utah
surrounded by his wife and children. “I was an
Inspiration!” was often heard from Earl due to his
birth on October 24th, 1914 in Inspiration, Arizona to
Charles Fredrick Gardner and Mary Ethel McNeil.
Earl was raised on a ranch, but it was his father’s
black smith shop that he loved most. He became a self
taught precision machinist and welder. On January 20,
1934, Earl eloped to New Mexico with Florence L.
(Susie) White. Their marriage was later solemnized and
their four children sealed to them in the Mesa Arizona
LDS Temple on April 29th, 1952.
Earl moved the family to the Los Angeles, California
area in 1940 to work for Lockheed Aircraft. He later
enjoyed working for North American Aviation building
P-51 Mustang airplanes during World War II. He was
also an original founder of Sprague Engineering.
In 1961 Earl and Susie moved with their two youngest
children to Grand Junction, CO to work with his
younger brother. It was here, in 1967, that Susie
tragically passed away.
Earl later moved to Orem, Utah where he met and fell
in love with Leigh Taylor Simonson. On June 25, 1971
they were married in the Logan LDS Temple and Earl
became a father to Leigh’s five children.
In an effort to spend more time together, Earl and
Leigh bought a campground in Green River, Utah in
1975. Many memories were made at Grandpa and Grandma’s
campground and many wonderful Gardner reunions began
there. They sold the campground and moved to Nibley,
Utah in 1990. Here Earl accepted a position in the
machine shop at Campbell Scientific Inc. in Logan.
When ever you asked Earl how he was doing he would
say, “pretty good for a kid.” He finally retired at
the “young” age of 86 years old.
Earl had a strong testimony of the gospel and served
the church in many capacities including: Bishop’s
Councilor & Stake High Council numerous times, and on
the Scout Committee, in the Family History Center and
most recently as a Witness at the Logan Temple
Baptistery. The calling he prided himself the most in
was as Home Teacher. He consistently did his visiting
the first Wednesday of each month.
Earl is survived by his wife, Leigh, children:
Barbara (the late Randolf) Kossman of Gilbert, AZ,
Joyce (Joe) Teague of Moreno Valley, CA, John (Louise)
Gardner and Sandra (the late Eric) Campbell both of
North Logan, Utah, Carol (Carl) Jensen of Springville,
Utah, Elene Gourley of Logan, Utah, Paul (Ava)
Simonson of Payson, Utah, David (Susan) Simonson of
Farmington, NM, and Joy (Mathew) Francks of Spring
City, Utah, Brother Herald (Jacqueline) Gardner of
Cherry Valley, CA and Sisters Thelma (Lyle) Crandall
of Thatcher AZ, Marie (Dean) DeYoung of Draper, UT,
and Glena (Lynn) Meacham of Alpine, UT, and Corrine
Gardner, Arizona and Afton Gardner, Colorado; forty
seven grandchildren, forty seven great grandchildren
and four great great grandchildren. He was preceded in
death by his parents and two brothers, Charles E. and
Clyde W.
The family would like to offer a special thank you to
Diane Crossley, RN, Tammy Law, CNA, and Sonja Bair,
CNA for their support during Earl’s final days.
Funeral services will be held at 12:00 noon,
Saturday, April 29, 2006 at the Nibley 6th Ward
Chapel, 360 West 3200 South in Nibley. A viewing will
be on Friday evening from 6-8 p.m. at Allen-Hall
Mortuary, 34 East Center Street in Logan and at the
church on Saturday from 10-11:30 a.m. prior to
services. Interment will be in the Logan City
Cemetery.
Condolences may be sent to the family at
www.allenmortuaries.net