 "Photo: Teresa Getten")
Benjamin Curtis stood at the podium with the book his grandmother used to read to him when he was a child. Curtis, Bae Gardner's oldest grandson, began to read the Charles Schulz book, which says that happiness is being with friends, knowing who you are and finding someone you loved at the front door.
"She was the person you loved that came to your front door." Curtis said. "Happiness was my grandmother,"
Curtis, family members and friends shared mementos, stories and memories at Gardner's funeral service on Feb. 23. Gardner, the former assistant director of the Hinckley Institute of Politics, died on Tuesday from a stroke at the age of 81.
"She was an uncommon woman with amazing gifts," Curtis said. "She inspired all of us and the kids she adopted at the U."
Kirk Jowers, director of the institute, said Gardner made the institute feel like a second home the moment he walked in the door in the fall of 1988. Jowers remembered being in the well-known group of U students Gardner took in as her own.
"I am proudly one of 'Bae's kids,'" Jowers said. "Unless you share that distinction, it is impossible to fully convey the loss we feel today with Bae's passing."
Jowers said Gardner had the unique talent of making students feel like they had unlimited potential and that he would have never achieved his goals without her. Gardner worked at the institute for more than 23 years with more than 2,000 students, helping them attain scholarships, jobs and encouraging them to become politically active.
"She impacted the lives of hundreds of people. She changed their lives," Jowers said. "She was such a key part and the heart of the institute. We all feel her loss."
Royal Hansen, who graduated from the U in political science in 1972, said he found refuge in Gardner's help when he needed to find someone to believe in. He said Gardner came to the institute at a turbulent time when people where "crying for a chance to be heard."
Gardner encouraged dialogue on campus about politics e and helped bridge connections between national politics and students, he said.
"If (former institute director) J.D. Williams was the father of the institute, then Bae was the mother of the institute," Hansen said. "She was the constant that made this institute magic."
Gardner also authored the biography of Robert Hinckley, the founder of the institute. During the service, Gardner's family talked about her love of reading and writing. Orion Bishop, Gardner's little brother, said his sister was a serious reader who, at most times, was seen holding one child in one hand and a book in the other.
Gardner, is survived by her husband, Kelly Gardner, children-Alan, Dawn and Anne-seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
"She was not capable of hate. She loved everyone, and everyone loved her. What's not to love?" Bishop said. "She had practically no mischievousness in her."
Bishop said his sister played the flute, piano and served as the organist in her church ward for more than 25 years. Her daughter, Dawn Gardner Curtis, said her mother's music was what kept comfort in her home and has kept the mood that way even after her passing. Bae Gardner was also known to love beauty in nature, especially in birds and sunsets.
The family would go to the beach every summer, and Bae Gardner would sit with her husband and watch the birds and the sunset for hours, said her son, Alan Gardner.
"It was like a whole different world to her. She loved that," Alan Gardner said. "She could see the beauty in everything."
In lieu of flowers, the Gardner family encouraged the public to donate to the Bae B. Gardner Internship in Public Policy scholarship fund administered by the institute. Donations can be made at the U Development Office by calling 801-581-6825. Donations can also be mailed to the institute at 260 S. Central Campus Dr., Room 253., Salt Lake City, UT 84112.
"She was a great woman, a mother, grandmother and wife," Alan Gardner said. "We will miss her until we see her again. We won't forget who loves us."
a.breton@chronicle.utah.edu
