My father, my friend.

First and foremost, I want to thank everyone for coming to today’s Celebration of Life for my father, Edward Rogerson Gardner, also affectionately known as Ned.

My father was a good man. He was intelligent, charismatic, humorous, and debonair. He was talented in so many ways. He was the life of the party. Everyone wanted to be around my father. He made people laugh with his stories, jokes, and anecdotes - some of these were sardonic, others were witty. He loved nicknames and gave them to family members and friends that he adored. He was quite a character my dad!

Most of his career my father spent traveling the world working as an advertising executive for the renowned firm, J Walter Thompson. He was absolutely brilliant at giving presentations, and successfully acquired many new clients for JWT. He was soon promoted to Executive Vice President, a position he tirelessly earned. He was given his own spacious corner office with ceiling to floor windows overlooking downtown Chicago and Lake Michigan. My father was exceptional at his craft, and enjoyed every minute of it.

Later in life, he wrote and published almost 10 books. The genre he wrote about was historical fiction. My father typed his novels using only one finger by volition. What an incredible feat!

Not only do I miss my father, I miss our conversations from the world famous Rib Joint, “Biasetti’s” which was located in Chicago at the intersection of Irving Park and Ashland. It was here that he would enjoy some delicious baby-back ribs, fries, and coleslaw while listening to Lonny whale away at the organ. My father loved watching and discussing movies. He had a vast intellect and could recall the movie’s characters, the actor’s names, the screenwriter, the composer, the producer, and director. Often my father would dramatically recite lines from some of his favorite films such as, “North by Northwest “ or “A Place in the Sun.”

Thank you, Dad! You will be missed but not forgotten. As the great jazz musician, Louis B. Armstrong belted out: “We have all the time in the world!” I firmly believe this, and I am looking forward to that engrossed and passionate conversation we will have together another day sometime soon.