Leon Gardner

Leon Lawrence Gardner was born in Marshalltown, IA on May 1st, 1925. He was the youngest of five children born to Arthur Gardner and Flora Ressler Gardner. At the age of 3 his mother passed away leaving his father to make the decision for Leon to be raised by his maternal grandparents. He lived with them until he was 15 in Centerville, Des Moines and Marshalltown. At age 17, before finishing high school, he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps to serve until the end of WWII. After boot camp at Camp Pendleton, he trained at the Naval Ordnance in Norman, OK. Leon was sent to the Marshall and Midway Islands where his job was to keep the guns, bombs and general maintenance of his assigned planes working. He was proud he never suffered the loss of any of the planes he worked on – many returned wounded but there was not one plane casualty. In 1945, he returned to civilian life to finish high school with many friends who had taken the same path during the war. On June 21, 1947, Leon married his high school sweetheart, Mildred Rockhill. They were blessed to celebrate 69 years of marriage. Leon attended Central Iowa Business College in accounting and international business. He worked at Lennox Industries in Marshalltown for 14 years before moving with his family to Des Moines to begin a long and diverse life. He specialized in accounting and tax work, including owning two businesses. He had a love of real estate - buying, building and fixing houses. Leon worked for a period of time as a real estate broker before returning to accounting and tax work. His final company, Accountant-at-Your-Door, used his much loved motor home to do the work right at the customer’s business, a much loved service. Love of travel took the family every summer to a different state to vacation, mostly camping. Later the grandchildren were taken along on the adventure. Leon and Mildred also enjoyed several trips to Europe. At retirement, Leon and Mildred became ‘snow birds’ spending half the year in Bonita Springs, FL, where they spent 23 winters. Children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren enjoyed many trips to Florida to visit them. Leon will be lovingly missed by his wife, Mildred, who “renewed his contract” annually for 69 years; sons Michael and wife, LaNell, Stephen and Mark and wife, JoNell; three grandchildren, Tricia, David and Thomas; and five great-grandchildren, Anna, Evan, Ella, Brady and Finn. A gathering of family and friends will be held on Tuesday, November 22, from 4:00-6:00p.m. followed by a celebration of life service at Caldwell Parrish, 8201 Hickman Road, Urbandale. Interment, with Military Honors, will be at The Iowa Veterans Cemetery in Adel, on Wednesday, November 23, at 9:30a.m. In lieu of flowers, pay it forward to the charity of your choice or the Animal Rescue League of Iowa.