Jason Lawrence Gardner

Jason Lawrence Gardner was born on November 17, 1972, in DeLand, Florida, to James Lee and Roberta Jean “Jeannie” (Halferty/Mathis) Gardner. Along with his siblings, Jeannette LeAnne Gardner Estes and Jeffrey LeRoy Gardner, grew up in Brevard County, Florida. He gave his heart to the LORD at nine years of age, in Melbourne, Florida, at Bethel Assembly of God. His early passions were Little League Baseball, where he and his brother, Jeffrey, played four years for the winning Glover team, coached by former professional baseball player, Jerry Wallace, in Palm Bay, Florida. Other loves were fishing (anytime/anywhere), diving for golf balls in the Country Club ponds & selling them back to grateful golfers, biking on the backwoods trails in Palm Bay, being active in high school musicals, mowing lawns in his teen years for spending money, and in general just enjoying life to the fullest. He had a beautiful voice, loved singing, writing poetry, and listening to his favorite tunes. He won a cash award for his Reader’s Digest article for Humor in Uniform, relating a humorous military story. Jason truly was the Life of the Family! Anyone can tell you that if he was your friend – you had a friend for life. He loved deeply and passionately. After the family moved to Huntsville, Alabama from 1987-1988, they relocated to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, where he graduated from Union High School in 1990. He entered military service with the United States Army in November 1990, where he trained and served until 1994 as an aircraft electrician, repairing Blackhawk helicopters. He re-enlisted in the Army in 1997, where he served at Fort Polk, LA, Honolulu, HI, and Khandahar, Afghanistan, and was honorably discharged from military service in 2005, moving to Portland, Oregon to work for Intel. He returned to Florida in 2007. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Phoenix University in 2012 and studied Electrical Engineering. While in Oklahoma, he met and married Michelle Lynne Estes Gardner, in 1992, and together they have three children: Son/Jacob Lawrence (Holly) Gardner, daughter/Sarah Corinne (Joshua) Gardner, and daughter/Grace Elizabeth Gardner, all of Lakeland. He has one granddaughter, Leah Lorraine Gardner. Surviving family members include his father, James (Candy) Gardner of Mountain City, TN; mother, Jeannie (Halferty) Mathis of Lakeland; sister Jeannette Estes, brother Jeffrey Gardner, both of Lakeland, and brother Cyrus (Jennifer) Gardner, of Lehigh Acres, Florida. Grandparents include Robert Leroy Halferty, of Newton, Iowa and Fauna Fay (Gangwish) Gardner, of Mountain City TN; Uncles Jim, Alan, Tim, Dan and John Halferty and Uncles Phil and Wes Gardner, nephews Jordan (Ariel) Jones, Jonathan Estes, niece Jessica Estes, all of Lakeland, Paul Eric Estes, Jason’s children’s uncle, of Claremore, OK, as well as many other nephews, aunts, cousins, nieces and nephews survive him. Jason was preceded in death by his maternal grandmother, Melba Nadine (Davis) Halferty, of Newton, Iowa; paternal grandfather Rev. Clark Lorenzo Gardner, of Mountain City, TN, and stepfather Jerry Z. Mathis, of Lake City, Florida. Jason’s love for the Florida coast drew him to live in Clearwater, Florida, where he resided for the past ten years. He was employed by Flow Control Technology Company of Tampa, and enjoyed working with his employer and friend, Dan Rogers, with whom he spent many great times going on fishing trips and ball games together. He loved his coworkers, too - Alex, Mel, Phil, Greg and Tulia, and loved his job, as the Operations Director of the Central Florida Region, covering Tampa to Naples, Orlando to Melbourne, including the Miami/South Florida Region as well. During this time, he met some of his greatest friends, Jack and Cathy Kennedy, of Fort Myers, Florida. They had many good times together – especially making chili!!! Jason was a passionate football, baseball and ice hockey fan. His first love was baseball, and he was a Number One Rays Fan. He enjoyed buying season tickets for himself as well as friends and family. He also loved to cook – specifically barbecue, and he had developed an award-winning chili recipe, of which he was especially proud. Even though he enjoyed so much of life in all areas – his three children, Jacob, Sarah and Grace, were his heart. They were the Love of His Life, next to Lord Jesus. Jason was a strikingly handsome, charming, charismatic, loving and loyal man, who loved God, Country and Family. He was deeply compassionate, a great friend and confidante, generous to a fault, and had a strong work ethic. He strived for perfection in everything he did. His humor and dry wit would disarm both friends and family, and you always knew you could count on Jason when you needed a listening ear. He recently suffered an injury while at his home on June 24, from which he did not recover, and graduated to Heaven to be with his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, on July 10, 2020. He will be greatly missed by all his friends and family here, but we are so eternally grateful to have been given the gift of his life on this Earth. In lieu of flowers donations can be sent to the Wounded Warrior, P.O. Box 758516, Topeka, Kansas 66675, or St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105.