Wade Anderson Gardner Jr.

Wade Anderson Gardner Jr passed away on Thursday, November 10, 2016. He was born on March 25, 1936 in Wilson, NC and was the son of the late Lela Smith Gardner and Wade Anderson Gardner. Funeral services will be held at First United Methodist Church on Sunday, November 13 at 3:30 p.m. with Rev. Charles Robl officiating; inurnment will follow at Maplewood Cemetery with a time of visitation following the inurnment service. Wade graduated for Charles L. Coon High School in 1954 where he lettered in golf and received the citizenship award his senior year. He earned his undergraduate degree from Atlantic Christian College in 1959 and his Master’s in Education from East Carolina University in 1966. While at ECU he was asked to join the Phi Delta Kappa Honor Society because of his outstanding academic achievements. A lifelong educator, Wade began his teaching career in Beaufort, NC but soon returned to Wilson and Charles L. Coon Junior High School. He then became an assistant principal at Charles L. Coon before moving to Woodard Junior High School and then Beddingfield High School. Mr. Gardner or "Squeegie" was a great teacher and was well loved by his colleagues and students alike. He was a firm disciplinarian but his students knew he loved them and they appreciated his dry wit and fastidiousness. While giving his students a stern look, he actually enjoyed watching them imitate his mannerisms. Wade retired from education in 1988 and was awarded The Order of the Long Leaf Pine in 2004 for his 30 years of exemplary service to the educational system of North Carolina. Some of the happiest times of his life were spent at Topsail Beach with his family. It was there that he developed a great relationship with his nieces and nephews who loved him so much. Wade is survived by his loving and devoted partner of 37 years, Lonnie M. Chase. He is also survived by his sister Jane Gardner Kirkland and her husband Robert (Bobby) Edward Kirkland Jr, nieces and nephews Terry and Robert Kirkland, Janet and Al Rehm, Beth and Walston Peters, and Lela Lee and David King, eleven great nieces and nephews and other relatives and friends who will truly miss him. Also surviving is a special childhood friend and cousin, Betty Jean Gardner Grassel and her husband Pete of Louisville, Kentucky. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Wade A. Gardner Jr and Lonnie M Chase Endowment at Wilson Community College Foundation, PO Box 4305, Wilson, NC 27893-0305. Online condolences can be made at www.thomasyelverton.com Arrangements been entrusted to Thomas-Yelverton Funeral Home, Wilson, N.C.