My Aunt Glenda, Les jr. & My Mom in the 60's

Lester Henry Gardner Jr.
Les Gardner, born 8 Oct. 1946 in Selma, AL, passed away 1 July 1996. Les was employed by the Alpac Corp. from 1973 until 1984, and then worked for Western Beer Distributers from 1984 until 1996. Les' large circle of friends is testament to what a truly wonderful caring man he was. The void left in the hearts of his family, for whom he so deeply cared, will never be filled. For the many souls he touched, for sunshine he brought into our lives, we thank him, and will remember him with fondness and love. Les is survived by his wife, Ruth, his two sons, Richard and Eric and his daughter, Leslie. His mother, and father Ruby and Lester, Sr. sisters, Joann Gardner-Hill and Glenda Gardner, his nephew, Ryan Eaton and two very dear grandchildren Adam and Sarah Gardner. Funeral services will be held Friday, 5 July, at 2pm at Fir Lane Funeral Home and interment at Fir Lane Memorial Park. In lieu of flowers the family requests that donations be made to any Key Bank Branch in the name of Eric Clayton Gardner, his youngest son, for his advanced education. Fir Lane Funeral Home in charge.

I have to thank my uncle Les for getting me back into motorcycles. You see, he was going to retire after 1996, buy a Harley and travel. He never got to do that. I told him I wanted to do that, but with a GoldWing. He looked at me and said "Son, don't put off any thing you want to do. Do it and have fun. For me time has run out, but you can still have that dream" One week later I drove up to his house on a 1981 Honda GL1100I GoldWing. Boy did he have a smile on his face. I just wish we could have had the chance to ride together. And that he could have seen my GL1500 I got the next year. The ultimate would have been, Les, Rick (his son and my cousin) and I going for a ride together.

The day of the funeral there was standing room only, and most of that was outside. You see Les had a way with people. I don't know of anyone he ever met that he didnt like, or vise versa.