Obituary of John Leroy Garner

John L. Garner, only son of Marjorie and Ellis Garner, born November 16, 1946, Glendale California, grew up a California surfer boy but considered Idaho his home. John’s father passed when John was 13 months old leaving him the only child of a widow who raised him single-handedly as a nurse, making sure he had schooling and vacations. John remembered all his life the train trip to Michigan to pick up a new Chevy at the auto plant in Michigan. Her strong work ethic was imbedded in him when he worked as a cafeteria worker and garbage man ( one day picking up dead chickens in ’90 degree heat )to get through college. John met Tenny Jane Thompson, the love of his life and wife of 42 years, at Walla Walla College, College Place, WA where he graduated with a double major in Speech Pathology and Business in 1968. John acted in drama, jerked the dean’s chain by wearing shorts and flip flops in the olden days and polished his old Buick. John then obtained his Master’s degree at California State University Long Beach and entered the education world which became his passion first as a special education teacher, then resource teacher, vice-principal and finally, principal of Ruby Drive Elementary School in Placentia California. As a teacher, John was president of the teacher’s union helping avert a teacher strike as he played hardball with the administration. It was his own tough administrative skills, financial acumen and attention to detail that took him up the ladder to educational administration in Monterey California where he organized 13 school districts into one super district for special education. Later, he became assistant superintendent of North Monterey, and then moved to Kimberly, Idaho as superintendant for 19 years working with great teachers, parents and community to build the Kimberly School District. During his tenure at Kimberly, he quietly obtained his Educational Specialist Doctorate degree. His own personal Macintosh computer was the first computer in the school district and John then pushed for grants and levies striving always to improve academic achievement and technological advancement. John believed that academics deserve as much recognition as athletics and created many programs including the Success Breakfast for parents and their students who read a certain amount each year, awarding them with trophies and ribbons. John contracted Hodgkin’s disease, a lymph cancer, in his early twenties. After his cancer was cured with radiation, John and Tenny bummed around Europe for an entire summer without a single reservation, sleeping at private homes with rooms for rent and driving an old right hand drive car purchased in England which he brought home as part of his fascination with automobiles. John could identify makes, models and values of every American car since Ford began the assembly line. Relaxation was 3 auto magazines a night. The antique radiation therapy of the day saved his life and gave him 40 years but ultimately the scars left on his heart and lungs disabled him and finally took his life. He was a warrior to his family who saw him battle for 15 years the effects of the radiation, stoically facing surgery after surgery Told he would never have children due to the radiation, John was thrilled to become a father at 40, then again at 46 and 47 to Elly Jane, John Tennyson (JT) and Jenny-Lee Rose. He loved his children, holding them to high standards in education and morals. When he was healthy, jet skis, swimming, and barbeques overlooking Rock Creek with the kids made his day. Special times with Elly included a trip to New York for Broadway plays and escorting her as Miss San Diego at the Miss California Pageant and with JT, finishing the Boy Scout Eagle, a trip to San Francisco to see the 49er’s play and a road trip down the Western Coast. He took Jenny for her 13th birthday to California, stopping at Hoover Dam and Sea World and the California beaches. Every one of his children’s accomplishments made him swell with pride; every hurt they experienced cut his heart. He loved them so much and treasured each of them as he had felt the effects of being an only child. Marrying Tenny gave John seven instant siblings and created the family he lost when his mother died early of Multiple Sclerosis and then he was blessed with his own three kids. Very few knew the private John Garner who was a surfer, sky diver, and a small plane pilot, an avid reader and Biblical Scholar. Very few knew the private John Garner who cared about his teachers and his schools so much that he spent more than 80 hours a week working to improve and create a good school district and refused his first contractual raise because the teachers got none. Very few knew the John Garner who loved music, played the violin and accordion and had hours of gospel quartets on his IPod and who faithfully bought an Easter dress every year for Tenny. Very few knew the private John Garner whose passion for cars drove him to own and repair over the years, a VW side opening pickup, a baby blue “69 Mustang Convertible (in honor of his marriage to Tenny that year), a Corvair, and a Chrysler Imperial complete with fins and chrome and other auto oddities. He named every one of his cars. John knew Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior and passionately taught Sunday School at First Church of the Nazarene in Twin Falls. During the last few months of his life, he grew even closer to his Lord and prayed hard and often to be healed. He is healed now forever. John is survived by his wife, Tenny Jane; children, Elly Jane, JT (John Tennyson) and Jenny-Lee Rose McKee; his mother-in-law Elsie Thompson and his siblings-in-law: Jay and Sandee Fuller, Michael and Roberta Blankenship, Joseph and Christine Ludwig, Rudy and Marcia Thompson, Coralee Thompson and Rose and Martin Tilley. John’s favorite songs “We’ll Talk it over in the Bye and Bye” and “It is No Secret What God can Do” He especially loved the lines: “We’ll talk it over in the bye and bye. I’ll ask the reasons; You’ll tell me why. Services will be held at First Church of the Nazarene in Twin Falls at 4 pm Tuesday, May 31st. The family has requested that donations be made to the John Garner Memorial Educational Fund, located at First Federal Saving Bank in Twin Falls. Services are under the direction of Rosenau Funeral Home. Family and friends are encouraged to share their thoughts and memories at www.rosenaufuneralhome.com