Edward Mcelroy Gardiner

"Mac", a 30-year resident of Bainbridge Island, passed away on Friday, May 20, aged 92. He was born in Albany, New York, on December 20, 1918, the son of the late William and Edith Gardiner. Before moving to Seattle, where he graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1936, he and his family lived in Minneapolis. When he was nine years old, he spent one of the most memorable years of his life living with his father who was in charge of the construction of the Diablo Dam on the Skagit River.He attended Dartmouth College and then graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1941 with a degree in engineering. The same year he married Helen Elizabeth Burkheimer, and they lived in Schenectady, New York, where he worked for General Electric. In 1945 he was offered a position at Boeing Aircraft in Seattle, and spent the rest of his professional career (43 years) working in their aerospace division. Mac and Helen moved to Bainbridge Island in the early 1970's. Here he was active in many groups including the Bainbridge Library Association, the Men's Breakfast Group, the Eagle Harbor Congregational Church, and the Battle Point Astronomical Association which he founded with two of his retired Boeing colleagues.He is remembered for his love of the mountains, hiking, boating, tennis, astronomy, and, above all, his active intellect on a variety of topics and interests.For the last eight years, he has lived at the Wyatt House Retirement Home on Bainbridge Island where he has thoroughly enjoyed the care and support and company that they have offered him.He was preceded in death by his wife, Helen, and his daughter, Elizabeth. Survivors include his son, Michael, of Los Angeles, and his two granddaughters, Dr. Kris (Gardiner) Barry of Mt. Shasta, California, and Lauren Gardiner, of Los Angeles.Family and friends are respectfully invited to attend the Memorial Service on Wednesday, May 25, 2011 at 1:00 pm at Eagle Harbor Congregation Church on Bainbridge Island. Local arrangements are being handled by the Cook Family Funeral Home on Bainbridge.He will be interred with his wife and her parents and his daughter, Elizabeth, at Acacia Memorial in Bothell. Contributions in his memory may be made to the American Heart Association, the Bainbridge Library, or the Battle Point Astronomical Association. Please sign the online Guest Book for the family.