Marjorie Arlene Gardner

Marjorie Arlene (Martin) Gardener of Kalamazoo was called to our Lord’s Home on Monday, January 3 at the Rose Arbor Hospice Home. Arelene was born in Xenia, Ohio on March 2, 1934, the daughter of Eldon Cecil and Lula Virginia (Bone) Martin. She was a graduate of Christ Hospital School of Nursing in Cincinnati, Ohio and received her BSN from Teachers College, Columbia University, NYC, and a MA from Columbia University in Curriculum & Instruction in Higher Education. She was a member of Sigma Theta Tau (an honorary nursing society), Kappa Delta Pi (an honorary educational society), and Pi Lambda Theta (an honorary society for women in education). She became an Assistant Professor of Nursing at the University of Michigan, and an Associate Professor of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio where she published extensively in her specialty of neurological and neurosurgical nursing. While at CWRU she met her future husband, Dr. J. Alex Gardner; then Chief Resident in Radiology. They married in 1967 and moved to Kalamazoo in 1969 when Dr. Gardner joined the Kalamazoo Radiology group where he spent the rest of his medical career. During her years in Kalamazoo Arlene was an active volunteer serving on the Nazareth College Board of Trustees from 1975 to 1990, and as the Board Chairperson from 1990 to 1992. In 1975 she was appointed to the Environmental Concerns Committee by the Kalamazoo City Commission and served until 1978. She was a life-long member of the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra League and served as President in 1976. She served on the Board of Trustees of the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra for 21 years and as its Chairperson in 1995-96. She served on the Kalamazoo Arts Council Board for 12 years. She was the recipient of the Caroline Bartlett Crane Award from the Kalamazoo Academy of Medicine Alliance in 2002 and served as the organizations President in 1978. She was a member of the Kalamazoo Community Foundation Scholarship Advisory Committee from 1995 to 2003. She was also active in Catholic education by serving on the Hackett Catholic Prep’s Governing Board from 1987 to 1992, on the Stewardship Council of Common Ministry in 1988-90, and them on the Regional Catholic Schools Foundation from 1995 to 1999. She was a member of St. Monica Catholic Church. Aside from her interests in community affairs, Arlene enjoyed family and community activities, traveling, bridge, cooking and entertaining, reading, and after some loss of vision, audio books. Her final retirement years were spent at Friendship Village. Arlene was preceded in death by her parents, her brother, Donald Warren Martin, her sister-in-law Dottie (Downing) Martin, and a brother-in-law, Dr. John E. Gardner Jr,. She is survived by her husband, her daughter Carolyn Virginia Oberg, son-in-law Jason Roger Oberg, three granddaughters: Isabell Abele Chase, Adelaide Alexandra Chase, and Monroe Cemone Obers, , a grandson Maddox Roger Ober, and several nieces and nephews. Friends will be received at St. Monica Catholic Church, 534 West Kilgore Rd., Kalamazoo, MI at 10:00 AM on Saturday, January 8. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at St. Monica Catholic Church at 11:00 Am on Saturday, January 8. Burial will be at Fort Custer National Cemetery in Augusta, MI. Any memorial contributions are requested for either St. Monica Catholic Church, 534 W. Kilgore Rd., Kalamazoo, MI 49008; the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, 359 S. Kalamazoo Mall, Suite 100, Kalamazoo, MI; the Dr. J. Alex and M. Arlene Gardner Scholarship Fund at the John Hopkins University School of Medicine, c/o The Fund for John Hopkins Medicine, 750 East Pratt St., Floor 17, Baltimore MD 21202; or for the J. Alex and M. Arlene Gardner (Healthcare) Fund at the Kalamazoo Community Foundation, 402 East Michigan Ave., Kalamazoo, MI 49007.