Laurence Hamilton Gardner II

Laurence "Larry" Hamilton Gardner II left this life on Wednesday, February 10, 2016. He was born on July 6, 1929, in Buffalo, N.Y. Larry attended Woodberry Forest School and Valley Forge Military Academy. He graduated from Colorado School of Mines with the professional degree of Geological Engineer in 1953. Larry served as an officer in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Korea and later in Japan, and received the United Nations Service and Korean Service medals. After military service, Larry was employed as an exploration petroleum geologist with Texaco in their Salt Lake City office, and later as a ground water geologist for the Virginia Division of Mineral Resources in Charlottesville, Va. He was a member of the VFW and American Legion. Later he was appointed an agent for Southwestern Life Insurance Company, and attained his C.L.U. designation in 1971. Larry was a member of the Farmington Country Club and an avid golfer and tennis player. He enjoyed playing his guitar as well as writing and reading poetry. Larry was a member of the Pierce Arrow Society, and the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. Past memberships include the Metropolitan Club in Washington, D.C., the Camp Fire Club of America, the Coral Beach Club in Bermuda and the Izaak Walton League which he served as their President for one year. His father Gibson Gardner was an early Naval Aviator (#344) who died in 1966, and his grandfather Laurence H. Gardner was the first Secretary of the Pierce Arrow Automobile Company in Buffalo, NY. His mother Josephine Plumb Poe of Baltimore, MD died in 1993. He is survived by his wife, Marilyn Greaver Gardner of Charlottesville; and two sons, Steven H. Gardner of Charlottesville and Mark A. Gardner of Lynchburg, Va. Larry was also very proud of his two grandsons, L. Gibson Gardner of Oxford, Miss., and H. Lee Gardner of Lynchburg. Gibson and Lee’s mother is Kim Zimmerman Gardner-Ewell, also of Lynchburg. His sister, Grace Gardner of Baltimore, Md., died in 2002 and his other sister, Sally Gardner Willis, also of Baltimore, died in 2014. Some of Larry’s fondest memories were when he spent many summers at Camp Kieve in Maine. He has requested in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Kieve – Wavus Education Foundation, P. O. Box 169, Nobleboro, ME 04555. A graveside service will be conducted 1 p.m. Saturday, February 20, 2016 at Monticello Memory Gardens.