Obituary: Gardner, Walter Hale

GARDNER, Walter Hale Walter was born in Beaver, Utah, on February 24th, 1917, to Willard Gardner and Rebecca Viola Hale.

He was fourth in a family of seven children raised in Logan, Utah.

He attended Cornell University and Utah State University and was awarded the first Ph.D. granted at that institution.

Walter served in the Army Air Corp as a navigator on B17 Bombers, but his background in science proved more valuable on the ground as evidenced by his work on projects such as the state-of-the-art Climatic Hangar on Eglin Field, and the U2 Missile project.

Walter retired as a Lt.

Colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserve.

After the war, Walter met and married Barbara Brown at Utah State University.

The two made their family home in Pullman, Washington, where Walter was a professor of Soil Physics at Washington State University.

Among Walter’s best remembered professional accomplishments were his authorship of a textbook and a movie that changed the way scientists understand the non-intuitive way water moves through soil.

He served as President of the Soil Science Society of America and spent a year at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, Austria.

So analytical was his mind that he once remarked after listening to a piece of music, “It’s like listening to math.”

Walter purposely designed his family life around the significant health needs of his wife.

Walter’s children fondly remember him as a peaceful, dignified man who cherished a quiet testimony of Jesus Christ.

Walter retired from Washington State University to St. George, Utah, where he lived until shortly after Barbara’s death.

He died in Provo, Utah, on June 11, 2015, of complications of old age— a malady he didn’t particularly believe in.

He is survived by his children, Jeanne Minert (Roger), Marolyn Mortensen (Dale), Janet Roach (Todd), Laurie Boyce (Oscar), and Willard Boyd (Diana), and his brother Willard Hale Gardner.

Funeral services are at 11:00 am, Friday, June 26th at Sundberg Olpin Mortuary, 495 S. State St., Orem, Utah.

The family will greet visitors immediately following the funeral.

A graveside service will be held Saturday, June 27th at 10:00 am in the Washington City Cemetery in Washington, Utah.

A more complete obituary can be found at metcalfmortuary.com.

Nothing would please Walter more than donations to the HHT Foundation to support efforts to cure the disease that took his sweetheart’s life.

Arrangements entrusted to the care of Metcalf Mortuary, (435) 673-4221.

Please visit our website at www.metcalfmortuary.com for condolences, complete obituary and funeral listings.