Marshall Gephart Gardiner (September 27, 1912 – 1999) was a news journalist at the ''

Leavenworth Times ''Leavenworth Times'' is an American daily newspaper published in Leavenworth, Kansas. The newspaper is owned by Gannett. Founded in 1856 by future United States Senator Robert Crozier, the ''Times'' claims to be the oldest daily newspaper in Kan ...

'' and member of the Kansas House of Representatives from 1957 to 1960.

Early life

Marshall Gephart Gardiner was born on September 27, 1912, to Alice (née Gephart) and Joseph Emmett Gardiner. His father and uncle were newspaper publishers in Valley Falls, Winchester and Oskaloosa. His father worked on the ''

''. His grandfather, Marshall Gephart, was a lawyer and judge in Valley Falls and Oskaloosa. Gardiner was descended from

Lion Gardiner Lion Gardiner (1599–1663) was an English engineer and colonist who founded the first English settlement in New York, acquiring land on eastern Long Island. He had been working in the Netherlands and was hired to construct fortifications on the ...

, a real estate investor in

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

. He grew up in

Leavenworth, Kansas Leavenworth () is the county seat and largest city of Leavenworth County, Kansas, United States and is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 37,351. It is located on the west bank of t ...

Career

Gardiner served as an engineer in the U.S. Army amphibious forces in World War II. He served in the South Pacific. He received a Bronze Arrowhead, four battle stars and the

Philippine Liberation Ribbon The Philippine Liberation Medal is a military award of the Republic of the Philippines which was created by an order of Commonwealth Army of the Philippines Headquarters on 20 December 1944, and was issued as the Philippine Liberation Ribbon. The d ...

. Gardiner worked as a news reporter at ''Leavenworth Times'' for 15 years. He also worked as a stockbroker. Gardiner served as

justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

in Leavenworth until his resignation in January 1957. Gardiner was a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

. He worked as a precinct worker, district chairman and the treasurer of the state Democratic committee. Gardiner started serving in the Kansas House of Representatives in 1957. He was re-elected for a second term in 1958. Gardiner lost the 1960 election to William H. Avery. Gardiner ran for election in 1964, but lost to Dempsey.

Personal life

Gardiner married Mary. His wife was also a writer at ''Leavenworth Times'' and died in 1984. They had one son, Joe. Gardiner married J'Noel Ball, a finance professor at Park College, in September 1998 in Oskaloosa. Gardiner died in 1999 of a heart attack. After his death, Gardiner's son filed the lawsuit '' In re Estate of Gardiner'' against Gardiner's widow after her transgender identity was revealed.

Legacy

In 1994, Gardiner donated $125,000 to the science program at Park College.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gardiner, Marshall G. 1912 births 1999 deaths Date of death missing Politicians from Leavenworth, Kansas Leavenworth Times people Democratic Party members of the Kansas House of Representatives 20th-century American legislators 20th-century American newspaper people United States Army personnel of World War II