Mildred Beatrice (Garner) Gardner

Poestenkill - Loving wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and friend, Mildred B. Gardner has gone home to be with her Lord and Savior on Thursday, January 9, 2020, at age 97.  She will be missed with a great sadness yet joy in our hearts knowing she is in heaven.  Millie was born to Moses and Florence Brown Garner on February 14, 1922, in Saranac Lake.  She was a graduate of Troy High School and Mildred Elley.  She was employed by Montgomery Ward where she met her husband, Harold.  They were married in 1943 and together for 69 years before his death in 2013.  Later in life, Millie and Harold started their own business, Gardner Seed Company in Menands, NY.    

Millie took great pleasure in gardening, reading, creating handicrafts, and watching golf and the Yankees.  In the past she has served her church with pride as an organist, Sunday school teacher, deaconess, VBS volunteer, and Church volunteer at the Eddy Nursing home.  She was a member of the Brunswick Presbyterian Church. She enjoyed traveling throughout the United States and Canada with her husband in their RV.  They spent many years wintering in Sebastian, Florida.  Millie found joy in lovingly raising her family and spending time with her grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Survivors include her children Donna Butterfield (Ray Edwards) of Poestenkill, Deborah Jewell (James) of Averill Park, Deanna Christiansen (Robert) of Valley Falls, Daryl Kolator (David) of Middletown, RI, James Gardner (Ann) of Averill Park, and Darcy Mancino (Daniel) of East Greenbush; 16 grandchildren and 21 great grandchildren.  

A special thank you to Millie’s caregivers: Lori, Nancy, Nora, Vickie, and the Community Hospice; and to her former caregivers, Meg and Eva, for their compassionate care. 

Relatives and friends are invited to celebrate Millie’s life with her family at Bryce Funeral Home, Inc. 276 Pawling Avenue, Troy, on Sunday, January 12, 2020 from 2-5PM.  The funeral service will be held Monday at 10AM at the Brunswick Presbyterian Church, 42 White Church Lane, Troy, NY.  Interment will be at the Sand Lake Union Cemetery.  

Contributions in memory of Millie may be made to the Brunswick Presbyterian Church, 42 White Church Lane, Troy, 12180 or Community Hospice, 445 New Karner Road, Albany, 12205.   

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