Lawrence Lashley Gardner
July 31, 1940 ~ March 28, 2015
Lawrence Lashley (Larry) Gardner passed away on Saturday March 28, 2015 at the Washington, D.C. VA Medical Center, surrounded by his three children.
He was born on July 31, 1940 in Farmington (Jamison #9), West Virginia, the son of James Hawthorne and Sarah Margaret Lashley Gardner.
He graduated from East Fairmont High School in 1958 and held five Associate Degrees from Tidewater Community College and Northern Virginia Community College.
He was married to the former Gail Lee Gaskins of Oxon Hill, Maryland, a marriage that ended in divorce in 1985.
Mr. Gardner was a member of the U.S. Army from 1958 to 1961. He served in Texas, Oklahoma, and NATO Headquarters in Paris, France. Following his Army service he was employed as a Dispatcher by the Trailways Bus Company in Washington, D.C. from 1961 to 1963. In 1963 he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served until December, 1980 when he retired at Charleston, S.C. During his naval service he was assigned to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba during the missile crisis, served in the Vietnam conflict, and had numerous sea-going and foreign duty assignments as well as staff positions in the Pentagon at Washington, D.C. and at fleet headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia.
Following military service, he was an administrator for various businesses in Virginia, including a software development company, a defense contractor, and a mortgage company. He was a production manager for a direct mail company and a contract consultant for a training company.
In 1990 he took a position as a Management Analyst with the Virginia Department of Transportation in Richmond, Virginia and retired from that organization in 2000.
Mr. Gardner was a resident of the Armed Forces Retirement Home in Washington, D.C. at the time of his death.
He is survived by his three children, Stephen D. Gardner of Richmond, Virginia and his wife Andreja Drolc Gardner, Kathleen R. Gardner of Richmond, Virginia and Susan M. Gardner of Brooklyn, New York; and his granddaughter Emma V. Gardner of Richmond, Virginia.
Mr. Gardner was a Methodist by faith.
Visitation for friends and family will be on Friday April 17, 2015 from 6 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. and Saturday April 18, 2015 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. with services being held on Saturday April 18, 2015 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Money and King Funeral Home, 171 Maple Ave W., Vienna, Virginia. Mr. Gardner will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery in a later ceremony with observance of military rites.
A second service will be held at a later date in his hometown of Fairmont, West Virginia.
Should friends desire, the family has designated the following charities for memorial donations in memory of Larry: First Book via their Web site www.firstbook.org and Marsh Children's Home Acapulco,
Inc., c/o Robin Blackwood Treasurer, 120 S. Houghton Rd. Suite 138 152, Tucson, AZ - USA
85748-2155.
Funeral Home:
Money & King Funeral Home
171 W. Maple Ave.
Vienna, VA
US 22180
He was born on July 31, 1940 in Farmington (Jamison #9), West Virginia, the son of James Hawthorne and Sarah Margaret Lashley Gardner.
He graduated from East Fairmont High School in 1958 and held five Associate Degrees from Tidewater Community College and Northern Virginia Community College.
He was married to the former Gail Lee Gaskins of Oxon Hill, Maryland, a marriage that ended in divorce in 1985.
Mr. Gardner was a member of the U.S. Army from 1958 to 1961. He served in Texas, Oklahoma, and NATO Headquarters in Paris, France. Following his Army service he was employed as a Dispatcher by the Trailways Bus Company in Washington, D.C. from 1961 to 1963. In 1963 he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served until December, 1980 when he retired at Charleston, S.C. During his naval service he was assigned to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba during the missile crisis, served in the Vietnam conflict, and had numerous sea-going and foreign duty assignments as well as staff positions in the Pentagon at Washington, D.C. and at fleet headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia.
Following military service, he was an administrator for various businesses in Virginia, including a software development company, a defense contractor, and a mortgage company. He was a production manager for a direct mail company and a contract consultant for a training company.
In 1990 he took a position as a Management Analyst with the Virginia Department of Transportation in Richmond, Virginia and retired from that organization in 2000.
Mr. Gardner was a resident of the Armed Forces Retirement Home in Washington, D.C. at the time of his death.
He is survived by his three children, Stephen D. Gardner of Richmond, Virginia and his wife Andreja Drolc Gardner, Kathleen R. Gardner of Richmond, Virginia and Susan M. Gardner of Brooklyn, New York; and his granddaughter Emma V. Gardner of Richmond, Virginia.
Mr. Gardner was a Methodist by faith.
Visitation for friends and family will be on Friday April 17, 2015 from 6 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. and Saturday April 18, 2015 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. with services being held on Saturday April 18, 2015 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Money and King Funeral Home, 171 Maple Ave W., Vienna, Virginia. Mr. Gardner will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery in a later ceremony with observance of military rites.
A second service will be held at a later date in his hometown of Fairmont, West Virginia.
Should friends desire, the family has designated the following charities for memorial donations in memory of Larry: First Book via their Web site www.firstbook.org and Marsh Children's Home Acapulco,
Inc., c/o Robin Blackwood Treasurer, 120 S. Houghton Rd. Suite 138 152, Tucson, AZ - USA
85748-2155.
Funeral Home:
Money & King Funeral Home
171 W. Maple Ave.
Vienna, VA
US 22180
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I still can’t believe that Larry is gone. He was such an extraordinary person with a life full of rich adventures, and children that he adored. My thoughts are with you at this time.