Billy Gardner Obituary, Death – Billy Jack Gardner, 85, of Charleston, WV died peacefully at home on Saturday, March 30. Daughters and wife Patricia “Pat” Garner, 59, attended. On September 21, 1938, Bill was born in Richards, Texas, and raised in Magnolia pipeline company villages. After his father died, the family moved to Baytown, Texas in 1949. A friendly bright-eyed toddler was overseen by Methodist Men and Scoutmasters. Paper route and bowling alley pin setting were his jobs.
The engine was refurbished to power the family Studebaker. He frequently remembered taking the train to the 1953 Boy Scout Jamboree in Irvine, California, as an Eagle Scout. Bill’s early math and physics skills earned him the Bausch & Lomb Science Award at Robert E. Lee High School in 1956. He proudly graduated first in his family from Texas A&M with summer earnings. After joining the Corps of Cadets and Ross Volunteers, he studied chemical engineering at Aggie.
His daughters and grandchildren liked his Bab-O bombing and rival dorm-soaking tales. They respected his college memory.
Was in the Air Force 1961-1964 after graduating. He informed his commanding officer, “Send me anywhere, as long as it’s warm!” after a year at Glasgow AFB, Montana. He met Patricia Ann English, an Oklahoma country girl turned English teacher, in Tucson, his second job. She shared his ideals and was ready for adventure.
On New Year’s Eve 1964, they married and relocated to Pittsburgh, where Bill got a master’s in industrial hygiene, and then to Texas, where he joined Union Carbide and earned a chemical engineering master’s at Texas A&M Bill raised plastics manufacturing for 35 years. While having their third daughter, he and Pat designed a massive polyethylene reactor. Six times larger than any reactor on the market, it was launched like Apollo.
After the family moved to Charleston, West Virginia, Bill wrote the process design documentation and licensed the technology globally. Over time, his girls asked, “Where’s Dad?” Pat stated, “He’s in Australia all week.” He retired as Red Deer, Alberta’s largest ethylene glycol facility’s Project Manager after overseeing the Tech Center R&D Division and pilot plant. He patented five process innovations.
Midlife, Bill bought a 23-foot Westerly sailboat share while others got sports automobiles. He smiled with Pat and the girls during the ride. The Laughing Gull in Chesapeake Bay hosted numerous family holidays. : “Everyone needs a little hardship in their lives, and you girls would not know hardship if not for that boat!” Steve and Pat invited friends to Mexico and the Bahamas and hosted many winter guests in Florida after upgrading to a Sabre yacht. Captain and First Mate Bill Pat lived on a Monk trawler for nine months while doing the Great Loop.
Bill has attended Christ Church United Methodist for about 50 years. He was a trustee for years and left the sanctuary’s stained-glass windows and Pat’s Playground, a 20-year labor of love that proved Bill Garner could mend anything. Bill loved his three daughters and attended dancing and piano concerts. He thumped his chest for every engineer he advised and supported his grandchildren’s 529 plans and Texas A&M scholarships.
He was pleased to be fifth-generation Texan. He connected people and made lifetime friends. He told his seven grandchildren about tractor rides, College Station visits, Granddad hugs, and his “sneaky smile.” A great husband and life partner with Pat.
CAMC Drs. Jay Lohan and Ahmed Khalid, City of Hope Drs. Mustafa Raoof and Ali Zhumkhawala, Five South staff at CAMC Memorial, HospiceCare, and Visiting Angel Tiffany Moon cared for Bill for three years. In his final days, caregivers were drawn to his gentleness and curiosity.
His wife, Pat Garner, daughters Melissa Wylie (Jay), Jennifer Garner, and Susannah Carpenter (Jonathan), brother Jerry Garner of Baytown, Texas, grandchildren Jack, Emma, Griffin, Violet, Alex, Seraphina, and Sam, and many loving cousins, nephews, and Bill survive him On Saturday, April 6, 2024, Christ Church United Methodist in Charleston, West Virginia, will offer a memorial service with live streaming at 1 p.m. and a reception from 2-4 p.m. Doctor Jay Parkins will officiate.
