John Clifford Gardner
SOUTH CHINA – John Clifford Gardner, 77, of South China, peacefully passed away on Aug. 29, 2024.
Born in Rockland, to Clifford and Blanche Gardner, John attended Rockland District High School, graduating in 1965. John soon enlisted in the U.S. Army Security Agency and was assigned to the USASA 76th Special Operations Unit in Taiwan until 1969. Following his service, John obtained a degree in Business Administration from the University of Southern Maine and worked for Casco Northern Bank as branch manager, and then loan officer in Cape Elizabeth, Raymond and then Portland.
In 1988, John was employed by the Maine District Office of the U.S. Small Business Administration as Senior Commercial Loan Officer. He had several different roles, including several natural disaster assignments. He retired early from the Small Business Administration in July 2010 as the Economic Development Officer.
In his free time, John was an avid hunter, model train collector and photography enthusiast. He spent most of his retirement visiting with friends and family, investing countless hours researching his genealogy, and looking for a good deal at Marden’s.
John was predeceased by his parents, Clifford and Blanche Gardner; and brother, Joel Gardner.
He leaves behind his brother and sister-in-law, Pastor James and Becky Gardner, sister and brother-in-law, Janet and James Shaw; son and daughter-in-law, Jonathan and Patricia Gardner, daughter and son-in-law, Sarah and Jerry Matalonis; grandchildren Claire Gardner, Natalie Dumas and Jack Seltzer; niece, Tiffany Shaw, nephew, Benjamin Shaw and wife Audrey Shaw, nephew, Jared Shaw, nephew, Joel Gardner and wife Daniela Gardner; grandnephew, Sawyer Shaw, grandnieces Aislinn and Lillia Shaw; and many loving friends.
A period of visitation will be held on Sunday, Sept. 8 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Plummer Funeral Home, 16 Pleasant St., Augusta, ME 04330. A funeral service will be held on Monday, Sept. 9 at 11 a.m. with burial to follow at the Maine Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery, 163 Mt. Vernon Rd., Augusta, ME 04330.
Condolences, stories and photos may be shared by visiting http://www.plummerfh.com.
In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the General Society of Mayflower Descendants at themayflowersociety.org in John’s honor.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Join the Conversation
We believe it’s important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It’s a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others. Read more...
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
For those stories that we do enable discussion, our system may hold up comments pending the approval of a moderator for several reasons, including possible violation of our guidelines. As the Maine Trust’s digital team reviews these comments, we ask for patience.
Comments are managed by our staff during regular business hours Monday through Friday and limited hours on Saturday and Sunday. Comments held for moderation outside of those hours may take longer to approve.
By joining the conversation, you are agreeing to our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is found on our FAQs.
You can modify your screen name here.
Show less
Join the Conversation
Please sign into your CentralMaine.com account to participate in conversations below. If you do not have an account, you can register or subscribe. Questions? Please see our FAQs.