For the Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 former U.S. representative and lieutenant governor

Lieutenant governor

A lieutenant governor or lieutenant-governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction, but is often the deputy or lieutenant to or ranking under a governor — a "second-in-command"...

 of North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

, see James Carson Gardner

James Carson Gardner

James Carson "Jim" Gardner is a North Carolina businessman and politician who served as a U.S. Representative and as Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina ....

.

James Creswell Gardner, I, known as Jim Gardner (July 17, 1924–August 27, 2010), was a power company executive best known as the mayor

Mayor

In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

 of Shreveport

Shreveport, Louisiana

Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....

, Louisiana

Louisiana

Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

, who served a single term from 1954-1958.

Sometimes called Shreveport's "First Citizen," Jim Gardner was 29 when elected mayor and 30 when he assumed office. His progressive

Progressivism

Progressivism is an umbrella term for a political ideology advocating or favoring social, political, and economic reform or changes. Progressivism is often viewed by some conservatives, constitutionalists, and libertarians to be in opposition to conservative or reactionary ideologies.The...

 and independent

Independent (politician)

In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...

 politics in a decade of general conservatism

Conservatism

Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...

 was a key factor in his 1958 defeat for reelection by fellow Democrat

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 Clyde Edward Fant, Sr.

Gardner joined the administration of Southwestern Electric Power Company, which serves parts of Louisiana, Arkansas

Arkansas

Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...

, and Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, in 1959. He retired as company vice president in 1987.
He penned a two-volume personal and political autobiography

Autobiography

An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...

 of his life in Shreveport, entitled Jim Gardner and Shreveport (Ritz Publications of Shreveport). Vol. I covers 1924-1958; Vol. II, 1959-2006.

Early years and family heritage

Gardner was born in Shreveport to Arvill Pitt "Jack" Gardner and the former Marie Creswell. His maternal grandfather, James Pleasants Creswell, owned the former Creswell Hotel in Shreveport. James Creswell's wife died when daughter Marie was an adolescent, and he did not remarry. Father and daughter worked together in the management of the hotel. Arvill Gardner, born in 1892 in Carroll County

Carroll County, Tennessee

Carroll County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of 2010, the population was 28,522. Its county seat is Huntingdon. It was named for Governor William Carroll.-Geography:According to the U.S...

, Tennessee

Tennessee

Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

, moved to Shreveport in 1914. After his marriage to Marie, the couple operated the former Gardner Hotel in the 400 block of Milam Street in downtown Shreveport. Jack Gardner subsequently died in a house fire. James Gardner's maternal great-grandmother, Julia Pleasants Creswell, the mother of James Pleasants Creswell, wrote several books about life in the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 era, one called Callamura, an autobiographical novel

Novel

A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....

 first published when she and her husband, Judge David Creswell (Gardner's great-grandfather), lived in Greenwood

Greenwood, Louisiana

Greenwood is a town in southern Caddo Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 2,458 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Shreveport-Bossier City Metropolitan Statistical Area.Greenwood was established in 1839...

, a Caddo Parish community west of Shreveport. Callamura was republished by Ritz Publications in 2003, after a copy was found dormant in a library

Library

In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...

 in Indiana

Indiana

Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...

.

Gardner is a descendant of Thomas Bibb

Thomas Bibb

Thomas Bibb was the second Governor of the U.S. state of Alabama from 1820 to 1821. He was born in Amelia County, Virginia in 1783. He was president of the Alabama Senate when his brother, Governor William Wyatt Bibb, died in office on July 10, 1820, and took over as governor for the remainder of...

, the second governor of Alabama

Alabama

Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

, and Pierce Mason Butler

Pierce Butler

Pierce Butler was a soldier, planter, and statesman, recognized as one of United States' Founding Fathers. He represented South Carolina in the Continental Congress, the 1787 Constitutional Convention, and the U.S. Senate...

, the governor of South Carolina

South Carolina

South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

 from 1836–1838, who was killed in the Mexican War

Mexican War

Mexican War may refer to:*Mexican War of Independence *Mexican–American War *French intervention in Mexico *Mexican Revolution *Mexican Civil War *Cristero War *Mexican Drug War...

. Julia Pleasants and David Creswell were married in 1854 at Bibb's Corinthian-column house at Belle Mina in Madison County

Madison County, Alabama

Madison County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is a major part of the Huntsville Metropolitan Area.It is also included in the merged Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. The county is named in honor of James Madison, fourth President of the United States of America, and the...

 near Huntsville

Huntsville, Alabama

Huntsville is a city located primarily in Madison County in the central part of the far northern region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Huntsville is the county seat of Madison County. The city extends west into neighboring Limestone County. Huntsville's population was 180,105 as of the 2010 Census....

, Alabama.

In 1944, at the age of 20, Gardner married childhood sweetheart Mary Ella Buchanan. They graduated together in 1940 from C.E. Byrd High School in Shreveport.

Gardner entered basic training in the United States Army and was admitted to Officer Candidate School as a second lieutenant

Second Lieutenant

Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...

. His Reserve Officers Training Corps unit was sent from Camp Beauregard

Camp Beauregard

For the American Civil War site, see Camp Beauregard Memorial in Water Valley.Camp Beauregard is a U.S. Army installation located northeast of Pineville, Louisiana, primarily in Rapides Parish, but also extending northward into Grant Parish. It is currently operated by the Louisiana National Guard...

 near Pineville

Pineville, Louisiana

Pineville is a city in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is adjacent to the city of Alexandria, and is part of that city's Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 13,829 at the 2000 census....

, Louisiana, to Fort Benning, Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

. With his commission, Gardner was assigned to the European Theater of Operations

European Theater of Operations

The European Theater of Operations, United States Army was a United States Army formation which directed U.S. Army operations in parts of Europe from 1942 to 1945. It referred to Army Ground Forces, United States Army Air Forces, and Army Service Forces operations north of Italy and the...

 in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. He landed at Cherbourg, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, and then was assigned to Nuremberg, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, where he became a keen observer of the Nazi war crime trials. In June 1946 he was discharged at Camp Shelby, Mississippi

Mississippi

Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...

, and returned to Shreveport, where he spent the remainder of his life.

After the war, he obtained a bachelor's degree in history

History

History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...

 from Louisiana State University

Louisiana State University

Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...

. In 1963, at 39, Gardner passed the Louisiana bar exam after taking night classes at Centenary College of Louisiana

Centenary College of Louisiana

Centenary College of Louisiana is a primarily undergraduate, liberal arts and sciences college in Shreveport, Louisiana. The college is one of the founding members of the Associated Colleges of the South, a pedagogical organization consisting of sixteen Southern liberal arts colleges...

 and four years of self-study, an option no longer available to potential lawyers who must complete law school before taking the qualifying examination.

Mary Ella died of cancer

Cancer

Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...

 on December 28, 1976. James and Mary Ella Gardner had two children: Ellen Buchanan Gardner Caverlee (born 1946), and James Creswell "Cres" Gardner, II (born 1950). In 1978, Gardner married the former Mary Ann Welsh (born 1928).

Mayor on the move

Gardner had an interest in politics from childhood. Native Shreveporter Stanley R. Tiner

Stanley R. Tiner

Stanley Ray Tiner has since May 2000 been the executive editor and vice president of The Sun Herald newspaper in Biloxi-Gulfport, Mississippi. He previously served briefly as the executive editor of The Daily Oklahoman in Oklahoma City and as editor of the Press-Register in Mobile, Alabama...

, a Pulitzer Prize

Pulitzer Prize

The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...

 winner now based in Biloxi

Biloxi, Mississippi

Biloxi is a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, in the United States. The 2010 census recorded the population as 44,054. Along with Gulfport, Biloxi is a county seat of Harrison County....

, Mississippi

Mississippi

Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...

, who is also a former editor of the since defunct Shreveport Journal, recounted a tale in a 1982 editorial that Gardner, at the age of five in 1929, came across Governor Huey Pierce Long, Jr.

Huey Long

Huey Pierce Long, Jr. , nicknamed The Kingfish, served as the 40th Governor of Louisiana from 1928–1932 and as a U.S. Senator from 1932 to 1935. A Democrat, he was noted for his radical populist policies. Though a backer of Franklin D...

, in the First National Bank of Shreveport. "My name is James Creswell Gardner. I voted for you, but my mom and dad didn't," the child supposedly told the startled Louisiana legend. Tiner was so impressed with Gardner's talents that he once offered the power company executive a job writing for the Shreveport Journal. Gardner declined in part because he could not take the pay cut involved and was not yet then fully vested in his SWEPCO retirement. He continued to write occasional columns for newspapers over the years.

Gardner saw politics as a means to improve the lives of citizens in the community. He was elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives

Louisiana State Legislature

The Louisiana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 representatives, and the upper house, the Louisiana Senate with 39 senators...

 in 1952, when he was twenty-seven. He left the legislature after his election as mayor two years later. As a legislator, he worked for passage in the tumultuous 1954 session of right-to-work legislation, which was repeaed two years later on the return of Earl Kemp Long

Earl Long

Earl Kemp Long was an American politician and the 45th Governor of Louisiana for three non-consecutive terms. Long termed himself the "last of the red hot poppas" of politics, referring to his stump-speaking skills...

 to the governorship.

In the Gardner administration, Shreveport took the initial steps toward the development of the Red River waterfront and Interstate 20

Interstate 20

Interstate 20 is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the Southern United States. I‑20 runs 1,535 miles from near Kent, Texas, at Interstate 10 to Florence, South Carolina, at Interstate 95...

, launched during the administration of U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...

. The interstate system is also named for Eisenhower. There was a large bond program to finance massive overhauls and modernization of the Shreveport water and sewerage systems and streets, substantial urban renewal

Urban renewal

Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of...

 projects, important annexations, and general civic growth and development.

Though he served only one term as mayor, Gardner is remembered for laying the groundwork for bringing Shreveport into the modern municipal era. Later mayors did not hesitate to call upon Gardner to promote civic issues. He was also designated "Mr. Shreveport".

Over the years, Gardner was called upon for many public duties. In 1965, Governor John J. McKeithen

John McKeithen

John Julian McKeithen was the 49th Governor of Louisiana, serving from 1964 to 1972. A Democrat from the town of Columbia, he was the first governor of his state in the twentieth century to serve two consecutive terms...

 named him the vice-chairman of the newly-established Louisiana State Science Foundation, which located funding for promising research endeavors to improve the state economy. Gardner moved up to the chairmanship in 1966, when Baton Rouge attorney Theo Cangelosi

Theo Cangelosi

Theodore F. "Theo" Cangelosi was a Baton Rouge attorney, banker, businessman, a former Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives, and a confidant of Governors Earl Kemp Long and John J. McKeithen....

 stepped down after a year because of temporary health problems.

Gardner writes his memoirs

For years, Gardner has fought heart disease

Heart disease

Heart disease, cardiac disease or cardiopathy is an umbrella term for a variety of diseases affecting the heart. , it is the leading cause of death in the United States, England, Canada and Wales, accounting for 25.4% of the total deaths in the United States.-Types:-Coronary heart disease:Coronary...

. He had bypass surgery in 1978 and again in 2006. His physician, Dr. Michael Futtrell, told the Shreveport Times that he recommended the surgery because he considered Gardner to have been physically younger than his chronological age.

As he recovered from the surgery, Gardner finished his second memoir: "I've felt blessed to have had the mental and physical health to allow me to finish. I have always been blessed with an exceptional memory for details."

The second volume traces Gardner's relationship with the City of Shreveport and examines his personal life since 1959, when he had vacated the mayor's office to Clyde Fant. It covers family, marriages, births, and deaths. It includes Gardner's relationship with such political personalities as U.S. President William Jefferson Blythe "Bill" Clinton

Bill Clinton

William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...

, Governors John McKeithen, Edwin Washington Edwards, and Charles Elson "Buddy" Roemer, III

Buddy Roemer

Charles Elson "Buddy" Roemer III is an American politician who served as the 52nd Governor of Louisiana, from 1988 to 1992. He was elected as a Democrat but switched to the Republican Party on March 11, 1991...

, and New Orleans Mayor deLesseps Story "Chep" Morrison, Sr. Fellow "progressive" Mayor Morrison attended Gardner's inauguration on November 9, 1954.

While a Democrat, Gardner has been politically independent. He supported Richard M. Nixon for the presidency in 1960, 1968, and 1972 and also backed the Republican congressional candidate Charlton Lyons

Charlton Lyons

Charlton Havard Lyons, Sr., also known as Big Papa Lyons , was a Shreveport oilman who in 1964 waged the first determined Republican bid for the Louisiana governorship since Reconstruction. Lyons also made a strong but losing bid for the United States House of Representatives in a special election...

 in a 1961 special election. He took no public position in either the Democratic gubernatorial runoff primary, a disappointment to Morrison, or the presidential election in 1964.

Professionally, Volume II examines Gardner's years as the president of the Chamber of Commerce

Chamber of commerce

A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...

 and his service on the first Shreveport City Council under the mayor-council government, which took effect in 1978, having replaced the previous commission

City commission government

City commission government is a form of municipal government which once was common in the United States, but many cities which were formerly governed by commission have since switched to the council-manager form of government...

 form of government under which Gardner had served as mayor years earlier. Gardner shares his campaign experience, details about his relationship with each Shreveport mayor, and an economic outlook on the changes which have occurred in Shreveport over the years. His tenure coincided with the election of the first three blacks to the Shreveport City Council, including the Reverend Herman Farr, Hilry Huckaby, Jr., and future State Senator Gregory Tarver

Gregory Tarver

Gregory Williams Tarver, Sr., known as Greg Tarver , is an African American businessman and Democratic politician in Shreveport, Louisiana, who served on the Shreveport City Council from 1978 to 1984 and as a Louisiana state senator from the predominantly black District 39 in Caddo Parish from 1984...

.

The volume also offers an intimate look at Gardner's personal life. He discusses Mary' Ella's death and his experience with grief: "One thing I wanted to say to anybody experiencing loss is there is not a set way of handling it. We each handle it in our own way." He also wrote an article for Reader's Digest

Reader's Digest

Reader's Digest is a general interest family magazine, published ten times annually. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, its headquarters is now in New York City. It was founded in 1922, by DeWitt Wallace and Lila Bell Wallace...

to explain how he finally managed to cope with the grief of his loss.

Gardner spent some four years writing the memoirs. He considers the books to be an inheritance for his family. Sarah Hudson-Pierce

Sarah Hudson-Pierce

Sarah Rachel Hudson-Pierce is an author of inspirational books, a publisher, a journalist, and a former cable television host in Shreveport, the seat of Caddo Parish and the largest city in North Louisiana....

, the owner of Ritz Publications, and close confidante of Gardner since March 1987 when they met, told the Shreveport Times that the autobiography is moreover "a gift to Shreveport. He has given the community and future generations a glimpse back to see how Shreveport operated. He has a more comprehensive memory than anyone [else] in the area. He's always been very active and interested in politics. . ."

Tiner's analysis of Gardner's leadership

Stanley Tiner, then with the Shreveport Journal, offered his analysis of Gardner's impact on Shreveport when the businessman declined to seek a second four-year term on the city council in 1982:

"Superlatives are used in such profusion these days that they tend to lose much of their impact. For the purpose of my comments I hope you will think of the superlatives used about Jim Gardner with the full value of their meaning. He is clearly Shreveport's 'first citizen'. That truth does not, nor should not diminish any other person, for there are truly others in this community whose contributions have been grand. But Jim Gardner has been a giant in our midst.

"He was the rare combination of theoretician and practitioner. His keen mind developed the ideals to fullness on the frontlines of politics as a legislator, mayor and city councilman. He is a historian, writer, and scholar. He is a devoted husband and father.

"But most of all he has been two things: a thinker and a city's conscience. That fine mind seems to always be alive and vibrant with new thought, new questions, new clarity. It has been the architect of much of the progress of the last three decades in Shreveport. It has been the sounding board against which the ideas of many others have been tested..."

At the time of his death, Gardner was a member of the Broadmoor United Methodist Church in Shreveport. An active Methodist layman, he taught Sunday school

Sunday school

Sunday school is the generic name for many different types of religious education pursued on Sundays by various denominations.-England:The first Sunday school may have been opened in 1751 in St. Mary's Church, Nottingham. Another early start was made by Hannah Ball, a native of High Wycombe in...

 for thirty-five years. As a former member of the First United Methodist Church in Shreveport, he from 1961-1962 was the chairman of the church administrative board. Ann Gardner is Episcopalian.

Gardner was a member of the large Shreveport Rotary International

Rotary International

Rotary International is an organization of service clubs known as Rotary Clubs located all over the world. The stated purpose of the organization is to bring together business and professional leaders to provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help...

 and the Shreveport Committee of One Hundred, a civic improvement group. His civic awards included Young Man of the Year (1954), "Mr. Shreveport" (Optimist Club, 1979), Shreveport Bar Association Liberty Bell Award, Shreveport Chamber of Commerce Business Leader of the Year, Community Council Paul M. Brown Humanitarian Award, and the Brotherhood Humanitarian Award from the National Conference of Christians and Jews.

Police headquarters named for Gardner

On May 30, 2008, the Shreveport police headquarters, the former City hall and the former Confederate Memorial Medical Center (or Charity Hospital) buildings at Texas Avenue and Murphy Street, was renamed the James C. Gardner Building. In the dedication ceremonies, Mayor Cedric Glover

Cedric Glover

Cedric Bradford Glover is the Democratic mayor of Shreveport, Louisiana -- the first African American to hold the position.Outgoing Mayor Keith Hightower was term-limited in 2006, after having won election in both 1998 and 2002...

 hailed Gardner's "wisdom, vision, dedication, and commitment to the city. We have roads that go north and south and east and west and loops that go around." Glover said that the highway system is the fruition of the city master plan which Gardner developed a half century earlier that has made possible the major highways of the area, including the Clyde Fant Parkway, Interstate 20, and Interstate Loop 220.

As a state legislator, Gardner had authored the bill which shifted the Charity Hospital building from state to municipal control. As mayor, he pushed for a bond election for new construction on the site. Gardner also served on the board for Charity Hospital, as had his grandfather, James Creswell, two generations earlier. The impetus to rename the building after Gardner was pushed by former State Representative Forrest Dunn

Forrest Dunn

George Forrest Dunn, Jr. , is the retired administrator of the Louisiana State Exhibit Museum in Shreveport and a former Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives, having served from 1972 to 1984 in the now majority African American District 3 seat. In 1980, Dunn made an ill-fated...

, the curator

Curator

A curator is a manager or overseer. Traditionally, a curator or keeper of a cultural heritage institution is a content specialist responsible for an institution's collections and involved with the interpretation of heritage material...

 of the Louisiana State Exhibit Building Museum in Shreveport.

(In Mayor Gardner's opening remarks, at the dedication, he credited Sarah Hudson-Pierce

Sarah Hudson-Pierce

Sarah Rachel Hudson-Pierce is an author of inspirational books, a publisher, a journalist, and a former cable television host in Shreveport, the seat of Caddo Parish and the largest city in North Louisiana....

, his publisher, for being a force in causing the building to be renamed for him, because she was the one who got a copy of Volume II of his memoirs into Forrest Dunn's hands before the wheels began turning to get the bill passed to name the building for him.)

Death at 86

Though he overcame heart disease, Gardner, like his first wife, died of cancer in Willis- Knighton Pierremont Medical Center in Shreveport. He was eighty-six. A memorial service was held on August 30, 2010, at Gardner's home congregation, Broadmoor United Methodist Church, with pastor Conrad Edwards officiating. An only child, Gardner was survived by his second wife, Mary Ann Gardner; daughter, Ellen Gardner Caverlee and husband, attorney Samuel Caverlee; son, James C. Gardner, II, and wife Sharon, all of Shreveport; stepdaughters, Martha Elizabeth Hannigan and husband Michael Edward Hannigan of Shreveport; Margaret Welsh Clausen and husband Steven O'Neal Clausen of Medford

Medford, Oregon

Medford is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States. As of the 2010 US Census, the city had a total population of 74,907 and a metropolitan area population of 207,010, making the Medford MSA the 4th largest metro area in Oregon...

, Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

, and Amye Wren Wilson and husband Stephen Michael Wilson of Prosper

Prosper, Texas

Prosper is a town in Collin and Denton counties in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 2,097 at the 2000 census.-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 2,097 people, 678 households, and 589 families residing in the town. The latest 2009 census brought Prosper to a population of...

, Texas. His grandchildren are John Gardner Caverlee and wife Amy of Dallas

Dallas, Texas

Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...

, Texas; Dr. James Buchanan Caverlee and wife Sherry of College Station

College Station, Texas

College Station is a city in Brazos County, Texas, situated in East Central Texas in the heart of the Brazos Valley. The city is located within the most populated region of Texas, near three of the 10 largest cities in the United States - Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio...

, Texas; James Creswell Gardner, III, and wife Marcie of New Orleans

New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...

; Dr. Megan Elizabeth Gardner of Shreveport; Michael Wait Gardner of Shreveport; Ryan Hannigan of Dallas; Austin Hannigan of Shreveport; Gretchen Wren King of Fayetteville

Fayetteville, Georgia

Fayetteville is a town in Fayette County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 15,945. The city is the county seat of Fayette County. Fayetteville is located approximately 22 miles from the city of Atlanta....

, Georgia; Craig Clausen of Frisco

Frisco, Texas

Frisco is an affluent city in Collin and Denton Counties in the U.S. state of Texas and a rapidly growing suburb of Dallas. As of the 2010 Census, 116,989 people were living in Frisco up from 33,714 in the previous census. Frisco was the fastest growing city in the United States in 2009, and also...

, Texas, and Olivia Ann Wilson of Prosper, Texas. Gardner was also survived by nine great-grandchildren.

Pallbearers were his grandchildren. Honorary pallbears included former State Senator

Louisiana State Legislature

The Louisiana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 representatives, and the upper house, the Louisiana Senate with 39 senators...

 Jackson B. Davis

Jackson B. Davis

Jackson Beauregard Davis is an American attorney based in Shreveport, Louisiana, who served as a Democrat in the Louisiana State Senate from 1956 to 1980. Now in his nineties, Davis still practices law and is active in community affairs, often addressing public gatherings...

, former Mayor John Brennan Hussey

John Brennan Hussey

John Brennan Hussey , an attorney who specializes in contracts, served for two terms as the Democratic mayor of Shreveport, Louisiana. Before serving as mayor, he was a member of the Shreveport City Council, serving as its chairman in 1980.He defeated then Democrat Donald W...

, businessmen Horace R. Ladymon, Mandel C. Selber, Jr., and John D. Caruthers, and Donald Webb, former president of Centenary College, all of Shreveport.