Mrs. Areta Louise Baker Gardner, age 87, died on October 27, 2013 at her home in the Fly community. Mrs. Gardner was born on April 24, 1926 to Eugene Alexander and Esther Fox Baker in the yellow railroad-owned house in the Bethel community. She grew up in Franklin, Tennessee where her family moved not long after she was born.
Louise started her homemaking and family care-giving careers early in life as her mother was stricken with tuberculosis. She was preceded in death by her mother who died the day after Louise’s high school graduation in 1945. She was also preceded in death by her father and a brother, James Marion Baker.
On a trip to Fly, Tennessee Louise met Carl Gardner whom she would marry on December 1, 1948. She devoted her life to taking care of her husband and family and along with her husband, Carl, creating a loving home for her children. She was preceded in death by her husband, Carl, on April 7, 2007.
She is survived by her children Jimmy (Brenda) Gardner, Jerry (Kathy) Gardner, Dennis (Ginger) Gardner, Gail (Kenneth) Davis, and Randy (Kim) Gardner, and eleven grandchildren – Nicole (Jon) Martin, Ryan (Amy) Gardner, Eric Gardner, Leslie (Patrick) Finn, Stephanie (James) Harlan, Ray Gardner, Jason (Alison) Davis, Carrie (Braxton) West, Areta (Paul) Thompson, Lauren (Josh) Marshall, and Alex Gardner. She is also survived by ten great grandchildren – Quincy Martin; Jayda and Brooklyn Gardner; Charlotte Davis; Joshua and Caleb Thompson; Johnson; James; Paige and Saylee Marshall. She is also survived by two sisters-in-law Lillian Gardner and Helen Anderson, and several nieces and nephews and beloved caregiver and special friend Jean Young.
Mrs. Gardner was a long time member of Goshen United Methodist Church where she was a member of the Ladies Missionary Society and a Sunday School teacher, but perhaps more importantly where she along with husband, Carl, raised their children in the Christian faith.
Funeral Services will be conducted in the chapel of Williams Funeral Home Columbia at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, October 30, 2013 with the Rev. Joe Bowers, Terry Hundley, and Rev. Earl Davis officiating. Burial will follow at the Goshen United Methodist Church Cemetery. The family will receive friends on Tuesday, October 29, 2013 from 4:00-8:00 p.m. and one hour prior to the funeral.
Grandchildren will serve as pallbearers. Honorary pallbearers will be Jean Young, members of the Goshen United Methodist Church, Wayne Scott and Michael Aita.
Williams Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements with special thanks to Lauren Marshall, Shane Bradford, Brian Cooper and staff of Oakes and Nichols Funeral Home.
Memorials may be made to Goshen United Methodist Church c/o Gaye Peach, 2882 Fly Road, Santa Fe, Tn. 38482 or to the Goshen Methodist Cemetery Fund c/o Winfred Baker, 4638 Bass Alderson Road, Williamsport, Tn. 38487.
