Dr. E. Clinton Gardner

Dr. E. Clinton Gardner of Decatur, a prominent Emory Theologian, died peacefully at home on November 26, 2005.  Born August 17, 1920 on a farm in Columbia, Tennessee where he was raised, he was a graduate of Vanderbilt University, Yale Divinity School, and Yale University (Ph.D.).  He served as U. S. Army Chaplain in World War II and pastorates in New York and Connecticut, was a member of the Department of Philosophy and Religion at North Carolina State College before he joined the faculty at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University in 1954, teaching for 36 years as Professor of Christian Ethics.  Dr. Gardner was a founder, along with the late Professor Earl Brewer, of the Department of Ethics and Society in the Graduate Division of Religion of Emory University, where he chaired the department for several terms, and a pioneer in the development of an interdisciplinary seminar of students and faculty from the schools of business administration, law, medicine, nursing and theology to examine issues of mutual concern.  During his tenure at Emory, Dr. Gardner was elected by his colleagues across the country as President of the Society of Christian Ethics (1961-62) and authored three books:  Biblical Faith and Social Ethics (1960), The Church as a Prophetic Community (1967), and

Christocentrism in Christian Social Ethics  (1983).  More than these, Dr. Gardner cherished the relationships with his fellow faculty and students.  In 1997, his former graduate students presented him with the Festschrift, Living Responsibly in Community: Essays in Honor of E. Clinton Gardner.  His emeritus colleagues of Emory University conferred on him the Distinguished Emeritus Award of 2004.  A loyal Methodist, while strongly ecumenical in spirit, he was a faithful member of Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church.  A devoted husband and loving father, Dr. Gardner was preceded in death by his son, Edward Clinton Gardner, Jr., M.D. and sister Mary Orr, and is survived by his true partner and beloved wife of over 57 years, Ruth Gardner; daughter, Marilyn Gardner Mann and her husband, Jim of Lilburn; son, Arnold Gardner and his wife, Stephanie of Duluth; daughter-in-law, Karen Holmes Gardner of Athens; grandchildren, Jessica, Rebecca and Edward Gardner, Kevin and Lindsay Mann, and Andrew, Adam and Abby Gardner; brother, Carl Gardner and partner, Dora Baxter; brother, Robert Gardner and wife, Betty; sister, Sarah Gardner and husband Jim; brother-in-law, Clyde Orr; "cousin" Jeanne Aycock, as well as many nephews and nieces.  Funeral services will be held Wednesday, November 30, 2005 at 1:00 p.m. at Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church, followed by a reception in the Fellowship Hall with a graveside service at Arlington Memorial Park in Sandy Springs, GA at 4:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in memory of Dr. E. Clinton Gardner to Glenn Memorial UMC or the Candler School of Theology.  The family will receive friends at A. S. Turner & Sons on Tuesday, November 29th from 6 - 9 P.M.  A. S. Turner & Sons 404-292-1551