William "Bill" L Gardner

William "Bill" Gardner, 82, of Pekin, IL passed away at 10:22 AM Friday, July 7, 2023 at his home. Bill was born December 21, 1940 in a small New England coastal town and grew up on the Rocky seacoast of Eastern Massachusetts. He became active in scouting working his way through the ranks achieving Eagle Scout. He married Sally Stephens on November 7, 1964 in Lynfield, MA She survives. He was preceded in death by his parents and one brother, Herbert. He is survived by; three sons, John (Amy) Gardner, Michael (Lisa) Gardner, and David (Laura) Gardner; six grandchildren, Alec (Lauren) Gardner, Cara Gardner, Bennett, Brooks, Noah, and Owen Gardner. He went to college at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, living full time on board a school ship, working the watches, operating the shipboard systems and learning the disciplines of life at Sea while attending college and at the same time traveling to the South pacific, the Atlantic, and Europe and operating the shipboard systems. He was offered a position with Caterpillar in the College Graduate Training Program in 1961. He worked at Caterpillar for 42 years in the International Marketing department working throughout the world living in Singapore, Michigan, Texas and traveling to many locations throughout the rest of the world. He was an avid handball player for over 50 years and played competitively in tournaments and won a class national tournament at age 70 in Atlanta GA. He was a member of The Peoria Handball and Racquet Club for over 38 years. He was a 40 year Illinois High School Association Certified Football official and 30 year member of the Peoria Officials Association and Central Illinois Officials Association. He officiated over 2000 games for junior football League, High School and Regional Semi Pro football. He was a member of the National Corvette Restoration Society and following his passion for Cars and corvettes, made numerous cross-country trips with the Corvette organizations driving the numerous Corvettes he owned through the years. Bill dedicated much of his time Volunteering with a number of organizations that dealt with helping High school students with Stem programs in such organizations as Vocational Industrial Clubs of America and the FIRST organization. For over 30 years he was the Admission Field Representative for the United States Merchant Marine Academy in central Illinois. He worked with High School students and the Federal Congressional offices in helping students obtain the congressional nominations to the Federal Service Academy as well as go through the application process. He was a long-time volunteer for AARP. He was involved with the driver safety program. In 2015 he was selected as the National Volunteer of the year by AARP. For the following 7 years he was the State Coordinator for the state of Illinois. He worked hand in hand with the Secretary of States office. They had thousands of seniors from the state of Illinois improve their safe driving skills, go through the program. His greatest passion was his family and he loved going camping and canoeing and outdoor activities with them. He was a member and club officer of the Mackinaw Canoe Club. A Mass of Christian Burial will be at 11:00 am, Wednesday, July 12, 2023 at St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church with Father Michael Andrejek as celebrant. Visitation will be from 5:00 PM 7:00 PM on Tuesday, July 11, 2023 at Henderson Funeral Home & Crematory, 2131 Velde Dr, Pekin and a half hour before at the church. Interment will be in St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to Massachusetts Maritime Academy, Office of Advancement, 101 Academy Drive, Buzzards Bay, MA 02532 or St. Joseph Church 303 S 7th St, Pekin, IL. The Mass will be live streamed and archived and may be viewed at Mass of Christian Burial live stream Mass Of Christian Burial Wednesday, July 12, 2023 11:00 AM St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church 303 S. 7th St Pekin,IL 61554 Visitation Tuesday, July 11, 2023 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM Henderson Funeral Home & Crematory 2131 Velde Dr. Pekin,IL 61554 Visitation Wednesday, July 12, 2023 10:30 AM - 11:00 AM St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church 303 S. 7th St Pekin,IL 61554