Willard Gardner

Willard “Bill” Russell Gardner, 74, of Indianapolis, passed away peacefully in his home November 18, 2016, after a long battle with cancer. He was born June 10, 1942, in Flint, Michigan to high school sweethearts, Helen Berneice Muma and Willard Russell Fetterhoff. Shortly after Bill's birth, his father was inducted into the military. Sgt. Fetterhoff joined the 706th Bomber Squadron, 446th Bomb Group as a tail gunner of the B-24 Liberator, “Ginger”, a member of the “Bungay Buckaroos”. Sgt. Fetterhoff flew many missions in nine months, until he was Killed In Action along with five other crew members on August 26, 1944. During his service, his Group led the Eighth Air Force and 2nd Bomb Division on the first heavy bomber mission on D-Day, June 6, 1944. A few years later, Bill's mother married WWII veteran, Paul Leon Gardner. And on July 10, 1947, five year old Willard R. Fetterhoff, Jr., was adopted by Paul Gardner and became Willard R. Gardner. In 1959 Paul Gardner moved his family to Rancho Palos Verdes, California. Bill graduated from Nathaniel A. Narbonne High School in Los Angeles the following year. Bill attended Berkley and California State College at Long Beach, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering in January 1966. After serving as a Civil Engineer in L.A., Sacramento, San Jose, and Utah, Bill applied the computer programming skills he had learned and took a job as a Systems Engineer in the IT department of Delco Electronics in Kokomo, Indiana in 1978. When EDS was acquired by GM, Bill became an EDS employee moving to the Park Fletcher office in Indianapolis in 1996. His many EDS clients included Cigna, Aetna, GM, and Rolls Royce. He retired from EDS (now HP) in 2005. Bill enjoyed reading, especially about American history and our presidents, discussing politics with close friends and family, bicycling, and hiking. He especially enjoyed spending time with his grandchildren: making chocolate chip cookies; playing games such as Monopoly, 500 Rum, Battleship, and Pretty, Pretty Princess; and taking them to the Children's Museum of Indianapolis. In addition, he loved traveling, dining out, attending live theater and the symphony, and relaxing with friends and family. Bill is survived by his second wife of 21 years, Roberta “Bobbi”; his daughter, Dana (Jonah) Aycox and her children, Noah and Aaron; his son, Jeff (Patty) Gardner and his daughter Sydney; stepson, Ken (Stacey) Gregory, and their children, Bryce, Alexandra and Austin Gregory, and Jimmy , Andrea and Allison Pierce; and his stepdaughter, Carrie (Danny) Wright, and her stepdaughters, Danielle (Daniel) Lakes, Sarah (Billy) Frazier, and Katie Wright and her granddaughter, Emily Ruth Lakes. Bill is also survived by his father, Paul Gardner; brother, Craig (Christine) Gardner; and sister, Paula (Chuck) Stukas, and their children, Matthew and Michele. His mother preceded him this past July.