Ronald Gardner

RONALD O. GARDNER Age 70, passed away on November 14, 2009. Ronald was the beloved father of Ronald A. Gardner Candace Peavy and Jacqueline Hall, both of Cleveland, OH. He was the dear grandfather of 12 and the great grandfather of 14. Ronald was also the dear brother of Malcolm Gardner Toni of Austin, TX. Going Home Services will be held 10 AM, Saturday, November 21st, at Brown-Forward Funeral Home, 17022 Chagrin Blvd., Shaker Hts., Ohio 44120, WHERE FRIENDS MAY CALL ONE HALF HOUR PRIOR TO THE SERVICE. The interment will be in Evergreen Cemetery of Bedford Hts., OH, immediately following the services. If you wish to send flowers, please call 216 283 3300 or, after hours. 216 752 1200. BROWN-FORWARD SERVICE 216 752-1200 The following is a Tribute from Mr. Gardner's brother Tribute to My Brother Ronald Gardner Sr. Good Morning; I am Ronald Gardner the third, reading in tribute for my great uncle, Malcomb Gardner, known to us as Uncle Mike in Austin Texas. My grandfathers' youngest brother, who could not be with us today but is here in spirit and with these words of expression. To the great head of the church, the almighty and faithful GOD, that makes no mistakes and who is head of my life, I give thanks. Thanks for another day he has made and we shall rejoice and be glad in it. And it is a day like no other, because we celebrate today the life our brother, Ronald Gardner Sr. Thanks to the presiding minister, Pastor Valintino Lassiter, and the Eastview Church family, you have served me and my family well over the years. Also, to Pastor Horace Wilson of the Kinsman Ave. Church of GOD and Christ, we thank you. Thank you family, Aunt Dorothy the matriarch of the Gardner family, and Uncle James Henry, and those family members that may have traveled from afar. Aunt Vanilla our matriarch here and Uncle Charles Brabson, and to his children, grand children and great grandchildren who have loved him over these years, even at times under difficult circumstances, take your own personal moment to reflect on what he has meant to you. To my niece and nephew, Ronald Jr. and his wife Candace, and Jackie, know that I am proud of you all in your support to him in these later days. And to Rose my sister in law thanks for still being his friend until the very end. Thank you, my Great Nephew, Ronald Gardner the third, for standing in for me. And thanks to all who have gathered here today. For it is because of you he will remain with us in our thoughts, prayers, and memories. Let us be reminded once again that we must all pass this way and it was his time to pass over to the other side, and that no day is promised to any of us. Thank you Lord for him, this my eldest brother, Ronald Gardner Sr. I am thankful for the days I can remember of a young man pursuing the dreams of life. He wanted to sing. Long before there was Hip Hop, there was a Be Bop, Soc Hop and Do Wop. Yes, the Do Wop, when young brothers pursued harmonized group sounds just before the Motown sound made dreams come true. With processed hair before we were Black and proud he and his friends looked good and sounded good and I recall many practice sessions, even those under the street lights of East 51st St. Maybe he was inspired by an aunt Vanilla that sang professionally, locally, around the U.S, Canada and Europe. I was also reminded that he loved to box. And maybe he was inspired by a cousin, Jimmy Bivins, that was one of the greatest boxers in Cleveland history in the 40's and early 50's and once fought "The Brown Bomber" himself, Joe Lewis and many other champions. Maybe, just maybe, but none of that was meant to be. But in the days of his youthfulness and hopefulness he met and courted Rosalee Green. I remember going with him to her family's home while they were dating. He would get really sharp because the man loved to dress and would even make me look decent as if I were dating along with him. I guess my mother thought, like most mothers still do today, that by saying, "take your little brother with you", would keep him out of trouble. I soon got to know a lot of the Green siblings because they would be the ones looking out for me after we would arrive, because he was tying to court their sister of course. Well, he eventually won her heart and they were married and had two children, Ronald Jr. and Jacqualine. I had now officially lost my big brother. My first wedding as a ring barer, about six years old, and I was not happy about it. And now these two little brats Wayne and Jackie taking my place in the family as "the babies of the family" Now he was faced with raising a family and took a job out of state in Gary Indiana working with our aunt and uncle, Lola and Curtis Livingston at Inland Steele. He worked there until his retirement some 35 years later. No doubt this type of work and lifestyle choices took a tremendous toll on his health. The second saddest day in our relationship was when he left for Indiana, until a few years later when our dad passed away. I remember him saying to me the day he was returning to go back there, "you are the man of the house now and you take care of mama" and I took those words so to heart, although now, I was just nine years old, I did not want to disappoint my big brother. So as the years progressed the strains of work and the marriage relationship took its toll on them both and Rose and the kids returned to Cleveland and I eventually went on to Texas a few years after graduation. He eventually remarried and his second wife Kay and step son Trent preceded him in death, and he has a stepdaughter, name? in the Atlanta area. But one of my fondest memories was the time he came to visit with me in Houston, Texas. His first flight, yeah he was scared his first visit out of state, other than Indiana, and our first time to hang out as two adult brothers, he said he overcame his fright because he wanted to visit his little brother and I was proud to have my eldest brother there with me in Texas. He met my wife to be, Toni, and had always said, "brother, you did good" I always appreciated the respect he gave to her and he always wanted to chat with her. No conversation was held without him asking "where's my sister in law, put her on the phone" No doubt to see how I was doing and if I was doing the right things. And that meant a lot to me. But while there, man what a time we had, breaking bread together, jazz clubbing, hanging out by the pool, with him swimming lap after lap and very much enjoying himself, a far cry from where he was in these later days where he would be out of breath just taking a few steps and wouldn't even consider doing something that he once so loved. He liked to hang out at the P.O.C Rec Center, the public swimming pool near the old East Tech , in the projects when he was a teenager and our mother "as usual" would say to them "take your little brother with you" ... .Man, I thought they hated me. Did this women not know she was putting me at risk with these two? But in later years he'd often confess that he felt he helped to raise me and enjoyed every minute of it, changing dipers and all, and somehow I've always believed that. He lived a tough life, and he was a tough man. Yet, through his struggles he found time to laugh, oh... that laugh, and a jokester he was. Singer, maybe, but comedian, yes. He would make us all laugh so hard and the thing is, he would have you laughing at yourself. Nothing to be proud of, but you didn't want to play the dozens with him. He delt with things as they were delt to him. Not with any perfection as none of us are. But I know he hung in there only because of GOD'S Grace, and you his family allowing him to do so. And ultimately GOD decided it was his time. The greatest love we can truly have for one another is in the love of Christ and this is what I wanted for my brother and for all of this family. But for now, I will believe the good news report by the confession of his faith but knowing that only the Lord can judge his heart. That he has received HIM as his own. Rev. Lasitter can stand as his witness as he held that official communion with him. The question will come one day as to who will be able to stand for you if Christ is not in your life. There is no greater love. The love of one that sticketh closer than a brother, that is only in Jesus Christ. I have been asked often how am I doing? And my answer is that I have been at peace with this since the day he returned home to Cleveland to be with family and upon his acceptance day, because that was the day he was ready to return home and be with the Lord. We had a distance in chronological years between us and we have always had many miles between us. We didn't always agree and we didn't always have a meeting of the minds. But what we did have was a mutual fondness of the heart. He was my brother, and unlike most men he never had a problem saying that he loved me. We held that bond all these years, despite the distance and miles between us, some 40 plus years since he left for Indiana and returned home to Cleveland again. We talked once or twice about every month for all these many years, and there is still no distance between us that won't allow for me to stop and have a conversation with him any time I get ready, or hear that grumbling and fussing, or that laughter, until I see him again. May the Lord Bless and Keep us all on this day, and in the days to come, until they are no more. Lovingly, Your brother ... ..Mike


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