Living

Notes:

Russell Robert Wardner 76, passed away on February 5, 2009, in the hospice ward of the Palo Alto Veteran's Affairs Hospital. He is survived by his wife Rita M. Wardner in Mill Valley; his children Catherine A. Wardner in Novato California, Diane Wardner McGee in Jackson Wyoming, Russell W. Wardner in Kern County California; and Philip A. Wardner in Mill Valley California; his granddaughters Clara A. and Lucia A. McGee, Jackson Wyoming; his siblings Lawney Babecky in Payson Arizona, Timothy Wardner in San Francisco, and Gretchen Rogan in Corona Del Mar. He was preceded in death by his grandparents William R. Wardner Sr. and Clara S. Wardner; parents William R. Wardner Jr. and Cecelia J. Lyon; and sisters Phyllis Gillan and Nancy Morrow.
Russell was born in Glendale, California, on January 30, 1933. As a boy, he loved to travel to the San Gabriel, Sierra Nevada, and Rocky Mountains by car with his father on camping and fishing trips. In 1950, at the age of 17, he entered UC Berkeley. It was a formative experience for a young man, as he characterized a significant proportion of the student body as tough, serious veterans of World War II, attending college on the GI bill. Academics came easy to him and he graduated in pre-dental in two years; he considered his time at Berkeley as some of the happiest years of his life. He was a member of the Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity. He attained a DDS at the University of California San Francisco in 1956.
Russell enlisted in the US Army in August of 1956. After basic training at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, he served as a dentist in Paris, France, for three years and later in Korea for 13 months, where he enjoyed hunting ducks on the Inchon Peninsula. He was honorably discharged as a Captain in 1961. He then practiced dentistry for 20 years in his Stonestown, San Francisco, practice, and later for two years with Bud and Terry Smith downtown, retiring at the age of 50 due to disability. He is remembered as a gifted dentist by former colleagues and patients. Of his profession, in retirement, he reflected once that he missed improving the quality of people's lives.
In 1963, Russell married Rita Marie Waldorf and started a family. Their home was in Mill Valley in the Cascade Canyon where his four children grew up with a love and first-hand appreciation for nature - hiking the hills of Mt. Tamalpias. Like his father, he also instilled a love for travel, car camping, and fishing with fond memories of trips to Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, Yellowstone, and also New England during the Bicentennial year.
He was a "hobby" farmer in the hills above Dry Creek Valley, in Sonoma, where he planted and developed a 22-acre zinfandel vineyard, which he tended for 14 years, doing much of the work himself. He loved to travel during his retirement, revisiting and exploring California, crossing the country by car several times, to Europe and the Rocky mountains - the apt destination of his last long car trip, which included the joyous wedding of his daughter Diane along the banks of the Snake River in Wyoming. He spent his later years at his family home in Mill Valley, caring for those he loved.
After a severe case of pneumonia, Russell spent his last days in the Palo Alto VA hospital, where he was so happy to be in such "a clean, well-lighted place." We are very grateful to the VA doctors, nurses, social workers, chaplains, and volunteers; friends and family that visited or called; and particularly, the veterans and their families that supported children, Diane and Russell, during his last days.
A memorial service, open to all, was conducted at the Episcopal Church of Our Savior in Mill Valley on March 9th, 2009. He now rests in the Sacramento Valley National Cemetery and on the shores of his favorite childhood fishing hole in Jackson, Wyoming.
--Published in the San Francisco Chronicle on 2/22/2009

Russell married Rita Marie Waldorf on 4 Jul 1963 in Monterey, California, USA. Rita was born on 15 Aug 1935 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; died on 2 Jun 2017 in San Anselmo, California, USA; was buried in Mount Tamalpais Cemetery, San Rafael, Marin County, California, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

William married Cecilia Lyon. Cecilia was born on 17 Sep 1901 in Texas, USA; died on 4 Mar 1982 in Glendale, California, USA; was buried in Panteón de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, San Miguel de Allende, San Miguel de Allende Municipality, Guanajuato, Mexico. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

William married Clara Sweetser on 7 Oct 1903 in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. Clara was born on 7 Jun 1881 in Wabash County, Indiana, USA; died on 11 Apr 1964 in Los Angeles, California, USA; was buried in Rose Hills Memorial Park, Whittier, Los Angeles County, California, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]