David T. Gardella

Destin, Florida

David T. Gardella, 66, passed away June 8, 2013 in Destin, FL. A memorial mass will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in West Des Moines. Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Monday at McLaren’s Chapel in West Des Moines with a rosary at 7 p.m. A private burial will be at Resthaven Cemetery. A memorial mass will also be held in Minneapolis, MN at a later date.

David was born May 31, 1947 to Timothy and Rosemary Gardella. In the early 1970’s Dave Gardella worked as an executive for the Sarcone Printing Company in Des Moines, Iowa. While at Sarcone, Dave developed a relationship with Instant Services, a Minneapolis printing company to handle “web” printing, which Sarcone was unable to do. Over a period of a few years, Dave became convinced that his desire to be dedicated to the evolving direct mail marketing industry could best be served by joining the Instant Web Companies (formerly Instant Services). Dave became Vice President of Marketing in 1977. His vision of becoming a premier vendor of choice for the “total” direct mail marketing needs of the industry coincided with the mission of the Instant Web Companies. United Mailing and Victory Envelope Company joined Instant Web to fill out the “total” package capability which resulted in the first single source option for our clients in the country. This one stop source eliminated the need to ship printed material or envelopes to mail houses located hundreds of miles away. The Instant Web Companies were going “green” before “green” became popular. On May 1, 1992, Dave Gardella was named President of the Instant Web Companies and he retired as CEO in 1999.

David is survived by his grieving and heartbroken wife of 47 years, Tresa, whom he adored and cherished from the moment he saw her; devoted children, David and Rita; brother, John; sisters-in-law, Virginia (Gary) Racki and Victoria (Michel) Vannest; brothers-in-law, Michael (Sue) Ayala and Anthony (Theresa) Ayala; many aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and great-nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents.

Memorial contributions may be directed to the Wounded Warrior Project.