Jacklyn C Gardner

Jacklyn Christie Gardner, died peacefully in Bingham Memorial Hospital on March 16, 2024 in Blackfoot, Idaho at the age of 86, surrounded by family.

Jacklyn was born on Jan. 30, 1938 in Flint, MI, graduated from Flint Northern High School in 1954. She married Jerry, her high school sweetheart in 1955, beginning their married life in Flint, MI. Over the next 5 years, the couple welcomed 4 boys into their home. Jacklyn worked as a waitress at her dad’s restaurant/tavern, model, school aide, Ombudsman for the elderly and nutritionist but always, her focus was on loving and supporting her husband and raising her sons to be good productive citizens.

Her children remember her as a patient and loving mother who created a warm safe home filled with laughter and the wonderful aroma of cooking and baking.

As a child, Jacklyn loved playing baseball, dancing, Christmas and hanging out with her dad. Jacklyn suffered with respiratory issues her whole life and as a youngster playing baseball she sometimes collapsed and her friends would carry her to the shade of a tree and call her dad who would take her to a cabin in Northern Michigan where she could breathe freely. They never prevented her from playing and Jacklyn played and worked hard her whole life.

Jerry remembers, “She and I, we were together in the good and in the bad". He continued, "When I changed jobs, we packed up when we sold the house and moved, we shared the joy of seeing our children become parents, together we mourned the departure of loved ones, we prayed together in the waiting room of some hospitals, we supported each other in pain, we hugged one another each day, and we forgave mistakes and celebrated successes."

Jacklyn is survived by her; husband, Jerry T Gardner; children, Jim (Chris), Tim (Kim), Jeff (Susan), Jon (Karen); sister, Elaine Louis of Pittsburgh, Kansas, 11 grandchildren and 21 great grandchildren. 

She is preceded in death by her father, Clark Jack Christie and her mother Clara Lucille Christie of Flint, MI.

The family is under the care of Nalder Funeral Home in Shelley, Idaho.