Wayne Lee Gardner

Wayne was born July 9, 1928 in Rico, Colorado to Kenneth and Martha (Fortsch) Gardner, a pioneer family of the Mesa/Collbran area. Wayne passed on April 28th, 2018 in Grand Junction, Colorado under the tender loving care of the staff at HopeWest Hospice Care Center and his family.

Wayne attended schools in Grand Junction and graduated from Grand Junction High School in 1946. He joined the Navy after graduation; attending Electronic Schools at Great Lakes and Treasure Island, then Submarine School in New London, Connecticut. He served aboard the USS Dog Fish (submarine) until June 1949 after acceptance into The University of Colorado to Study Engineering Physics. He reenlisted for active duty at the beginning of the Korean War; was attached to the Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor. He was honorably discharged after both enlistments.

Wayne returned to The University of Colorado, where he completed his junior year and married Stephanie (divorced). They started their family in Boulder, Colorado and soon moved to Berkley, California where he worked for Berkley Scientific. He then went to work for Beckman Instruments and later RCA. The family moved to Colorado where he worked at Colorado Hickock Instruments as Chief Draftsman. Later at Dickson Inc. as Design Draftsman, he designed instruments still made today and using an IBM computer system in the accounting department, he cataloged their entire inventory. Later he designed logging instruments for URINCO - Uranium Instrument Company. He also worked for Flannery Electric and retired from United Artist Theaters as Chief Projectionist. He was a member of MENSA. His hobbies included playing chess, reading and playing with his grandchildren.

He leaves behind his wife, Anita Youngberg Gardner, his daughters Andrea Gardner, Lisi Stachowiak (Dave), Tiari DeGraw (Mike) and stepchildren Joanne Miracle (Rusty), John McCoy (Emma), Bonnie McCarty (Tyler) and 9 grandchildren. He was preceded in death by sons, Eric Gardner and Glenn Gardner and 3 younger brothers.

A Celebration of Life will be held in July. Donations in Wayne's memory may be made to CLAWS or charity of your choice.