Kent Gardiner was born March 18, 1946 in the back room of the house his grandfather built at 1636 Golden Gate Avenue in L.A. He grew up in Glendale, went to college at BYU and served in the British South Mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In the early 70’s he hand restored a 1952 MG-TD roadster with his brother Mark. Then he drove it down Colorado Blvd the night before the Rose Parade to the delight and cheers of thousands of appreciative fans.
In 1974, Kent met, fell in love with, and married Suzanne Marie Brown of Hacienda Heights. They had six children during which time Kent taught school at the University Elementary School at UCLA as a demonstration teacher. Suzanne died of breast cancer in 1994.
Kent fell in love with and married the irrepressible Deborah. He retired from UCLA after teaching there for 39 years and now lives with his wife Deborah in Eagle Mountain, UT. Kent enjoys being a Temple worker, reading the Book of Mormon daily, travel, teaching, gardening, Marklin trains, hiking, old cars, camping, classical music, photography, grandchildren and family history.
British South Mission Yearbook
Gardiner Family History Museum
Kent's future obituary/gravesite
Marklin Layout - Photos and Videos
Documents related to Kent Gardiner:
Before my mission I drove the 1954 Ford Station Wagon. It has three on the tree or a gear shift on the steering column. I learn to drive in it although it took me a couple of times to pass the drivers test. I drove The ’54 Ford to prom, to work, delivered phone books piled to the ceiling in it and took it on dates. I viewed it as an old persons car and wanted something better when I returned from the mission field. So for $200 I bought a 1956 Chevy two door. It had a four on the floor hurst gear shift, black tuck and roll upholstery and a radio with reverb. I drove it for a couple of years. I even got some spacers for the springs which gave it a harder ride. It was a great car. At the time people were trying to conserve gas so I added a little meter onto the dash. When you put your foot to the floor the gauge went into the dreaded red zone. That meant you were sucking large quantities of gas through your carburetor. I learned to easy up on the gas. The car looked and ran well. I drove it to BYU a couple of years and it did very well.
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| 1946 Kent and his Father James Gardiner |
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| 1952, Black and White TV. 914 N. Isabel Street Glendale, CA |
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| 1953 Kent and his mother Elaine, Santa Monica,CA |
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| 1953 |
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| 1954 |
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| 1954 |
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| 1956 |
1966 Kent, British South Mission and Brent Frost,
British Mission, Hyde Park Chapel, Mission photo
After driving the 1956 Chevy a few of years Brother Bud Leeper in the ward offered to sell me his 1958 MG Magnette. During my last year of Seminary he and his sons picked me up and we went to seminary together. I told him how much I liked the car and 4 years later he offered it to me. I jumped at the chance. The car had leather trimmed individual front seats and rear bench seat. The dashboard and door cappings were in polished wood. Although the heater was standard, the radio was still an optional extra. I redid the seats in red Naugahyde and put fresh carpet on the floor. One of the most interesting things about the car was it crank started. If the battery was dead you turned on the ignition, popped the trunk, pulled out the crank, went to the front of the car, shoved the crank into the front of the engine and with all your might you turned the engine over with the crank handle. Voila, the car started. I drove the car to BYU the last few years I was there. It wasn’t a fast car. One time Richard Watson and I drove to Arizona in the car. South of Provo we got pulled over for speeding. Richard laughed so hard I thought he might hurt himself. He thought the car was gutless. The officer let us go with a warning. In 1970 I visited aunt Mary and Gloria in SLC and on the way home the car started to knock. By the time I hit Provo you could hear the knocking for blocks. When I pulled it into the driveway the temp gauge was off the charts. I knew the car was dead. I wanted to restore it so I towed it to California. Eventually dad got tired of having it stored in his back yard and I gave it to my friend Wayne LeCheminant who sold it to his mother. Sometimes I wish I could cruise down the road in my Jaguar looking Magnette and feel the gear shift in my hand. I’d like to smell the interior or hear the sound of the trunk lid closing or the purring of the engine as each gear engaged. But time has moved on and that will only happen in my dreams.
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| Richard Watson placed his soda on the grill and I took a photo. |
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| 1955 Ford |
When Mark was 15 he had a Honda 50 which he loved. Also when Mark was 15 he wasn’t doing well in school or generally so in 1965 JHG bought a wrecked was 1955 Ford 2 door wagon with a blown engine, dented, and it had been hit in the side quite badly. It had a trashed interior. Mark and JHG redid the engine at McJoiner Brothers in Burbank. The back seat was Ok and he kept it. He found a black tuck and roll front seat at a junk yard and put it in. Mark was driving with 3 on a tree and broke the bracket that held the steering column. Mark and I were at Charles Brown's house, when Charles pulled out a transmission from an old car he was working on and had a floor shifter which he wasn't using. Mark said, "Do you want that?" Charles said no, do you want it?' Mark said sure. Mark found a tall shift rod to go with the shifter but needed a top or a knob on the top of the gear shift. Mark made an orange 3 ball in High School with which he made a gear shift ball. Mark painted the 55 twice in the back yard. He used JHG's equipment. He painted the car both times red.
One time Mark was going on a date and he heard a clunk and a thud and clunk, clunk and clunk. The next day he took the rear end apart connected to the ring gear. The bolt became a gear. Mark took the bolt out and it ran fine. He didn't want that happening again so he left the bolt out and it ran perfectly without the bolt. Mark used to take kids to the beach often during the summer in this car before his mission, and after work.
The day after I got home from my mission October 1967 (Mark is now17) I went out on the street to meet my brother Mark. Before my mission he was a little kid just like he always was growing up. So I walked out to his red 1955 Ford and out stepped Mark, towering over me. It was a moment. After the death of my MG Magnette in about 1970, I bought this 1967 MGB-GT (Built in 1967). I absolutely loved the yellow MG. It was clean, ran well and had spoked wheels. It was a lot faster than the Magnette and did better on the freeways. One time I went on a date in the car to pick up a girl in Highland Park. Before I got to the house a cop pulled me over. I thought to myself, “I wasn’t speeding?” He asked what I was doing in the neighborhood and I said, “Picking up a girl for a date.” He said, “It is unusual to see this type of a car in this neighborhood.” I wished him well and went on my way
While Mark was on his mission 1969-71 JHG drove and took care of the ’55 Ford Station Wagon.
While working in Glendora in 1972 I traded the 67 MGB-GT to Mark for his 55 Ford and Mark gave me some cash to make the deal fair. The reason I traded is because I needed something that could haul school supplies and I needed a little cash because I wanted to restore an old MG. The one Mark and I restored was a 1952 MG-TD. Mark at first bought a trashed 1952 TD from someone in the San Fernando Valley. It had good wood which was unusual. Later we found a car that was ready to be restored but not put together. I bought that one and Mark and I took the two cars and made one beautiful car. The day we had the car together we gathered around for an exciting moment. I turned the cart over, it started, and I looked at the oil pressure gauge. No pressure. Dad yelled, “Shut it down.” I turned the car off. Dad said,”I’ll bet you didn’t put a gasket between the oil pump and the engine block. Mark and I drove to Goleta near Santa Barbara to Moss Motors, bought the gasket and brought it back. We took the pan off the car and added the gasket. The car ran perfectly after that. But the car needed paint. We took the car apart and with the help from Curly across the street we detailed the body and all the fenders and got everything ready to be painted. Because Mark has already painted the ’55 Ford he knew we could paint it outdoors which was somewhat dusty. We painted each part and hung the fenders on the clothes line to dry. Between coats we rubbed out the paint which resulted in a perfect finish. You could set a light piece of cloth on the front hood and it slid off like it was on glass.
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| 1998 |
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| 2000s early, Kent, parents, siblings |