Death date: Jan 15, 2013
Dr. Harrison Gardner, 84, of Denver, NC passed away Tuesday, January 15, 2013 at Levine & Dickson Hospice House in Huntersville, NC. Dr. Gardner earned his PhD at Michigan State University. He taught at Purdue, Texas A&M, and Mich Read Obituary
To the Gardner Family,
I just wanted you to know that I would not be where I am today without Harry"s and JoAnn's help. I will remember (with the fondest of memories) the both of them for the rest of my life. If any of you ever get back to the Lansing area, please look me up. You can always get me via email: [email protected].
PS: If you visit my office web site: www.pethealth.net you will see a granddaughter on the third page with her puppy.
Dear JoAnn, Steve and Kathy:
We are so saddened to learn of Harry's passing. Our thoughts, prayers (and some pretty silly memories) go out to you. Know that we hold you in our hearts, and send our love!
Dr. Gardner was instrumental in recruiting me into agricultural education. He was my first undergraduate advisor at Michigan State. I still remember him saying, "get a degree in agricultural education and teach for a couple of years. You will either love it and remain in the profession, or get good experience for something else. I loved it and have spent the last 30 years involved with agricultural education.
Dr. Gardner was an inspirational professor who cared deeply for his students. He will be missed.
Joan, you have our sympathy in memory of Harry. He was a great guy and will be missed by all the Michigan Heart attendees. We were together for breakfast the first week of Christmas and every one asked about Harry.
Sincerely yours,
Jan and Russ Missler
Dear Gardner Family:
Thank you for the thoughtfulness printing the announcement of Dr. Gardner's passing locally. I was a joint appointee to the then Department of Education from what was then the Department of Modern Languages in Stanley Coulter Hall. I would walk over to the Education Building before it was torn down to deliver papers required by Indianapolis and my special reward was a pleasant chat with Harry. Why? Because this kind, warm and humane gentleman was as much a teacher to those for whom he held administrative responsibility as he was to his students. He will be missed because the world needs more people like him. Many hundreds and more of his colleagues all around the world know that. I extend heartfelt condolences.
Alan Garfinkel
Purdue Emeritus 2006
Dr. Gardner was the one person (besides my parents) who believe I could make it at Michigan State University in the 70's. Many times I thought of giving up and heading home. Dr. Gardner made sure that I think everyting over before making such a decision. The day of graduation he took me and my parents to a breakfast at Kellogg Center. The comment he made to my parents linger for a lifetime, Dr. Gardner said," Don't worry about Bill, he's a lot like I was coming out of college, he will do just fine, grades are not everything, you folks have bestowed upon him that hard work and dedication will carry someone far, he will be just fine." My parents reminded me of those words every so often during good and bad times since that wonderful day. Dr. Gardner made them feel so special that day.
My last visit was in Denver, I wanted to show him all the National Teams from Michigan that I the honor to coach regarding Parliamentary Procedure, it was a wonderful few hours of story telling and picture viewing. Little did I know that it would be the final time to laugh and talk about FFA with him.
Thank you to all the family members of Dr. Gardner who let so many of us share a laugh or story with our mentor. May god bless all of you.
JoAnn,
We are so sorry for your loss. When we first learned of this our immediate reaction to remember one if the nicest most genuinely enthusiastic men we ever met. We have dearly treasured our time together over the years and also feel a great loss. Harry acquitted himself very well here in the world as he made some wonderful contributions to the lives of many people. We are sure The Father definitely has one of those "many rooms" waiting for him!
Bless you and your family in this special time,
Les & Lauretta Miller
Joanne, Steve and Kathy and beautiful grandchildren, Terry and I send our love and sympathy to you all. We were so saddened to hear of Harry's passing. I have such wonderful memories of working with him at MSU. He helped me learn my job and I loved watching him with his students. He is what teaching professors should be about. I remember one day I was confronted by a 'not so happy' student and Harry was right out by my side sticking up for me! I appreciated all he did for me and enjoyed working with him. We missed him greatly when he retired.
We are thinking of you all at this time. Mary and Terry Pierce
My condolences to the family. Dr. Gardener (Harry) was a huge motivation to me as a young man and is the only reason I became a Ag Teacher and FFA Advisor only becasue of his guidance and encouragement. I have very fond memories of Harry and the great times we shared at MSU. He was a true builder of leaders and had a genuine concern for students and youth development. He was my Masters advisor and we worked a reworked my paper so many times I thought we both might know it by heart. While I know he will me missed but I also know his mark that he made on me will stay with me forever. I look forward to paying my respects later here in Michigan. Once again my condolences.
Steve and Family-
My Mom passed along the news of your Dad and I just wanted to say how sorry I was
to hear this. Please know you and all your family are in my thought and prayers.
Take Care-
Cris Brantley Luke
& Family
