Barbara Bates Gardner

Barbara Bates Gardner, 48, Cumming, GA, passed away on Saturday, November 3, 2012. She graduated from North Fulton High School, Atlanta, Georgia and attended Mercer University, Atlanta, Georgia and Bryan College, Dayton, TN, where she met her husband, Todd. They remained dedicated to each other with mutual support and care. In addition to her husband, she leaves four children, Justine, who resides in South Haven, MI; Joshua, who serves in the U.S. Navy, Abigail, freshman at Bryan College, Dayton, TN, and Annabelle, high school junior. She is survived by her mother Nancy Hill-Bates, Albany, Georgia, her father and stepmother, Bev and Betty Bates, Atlanta, her brother and sister-in-law, Ben and Lenys Bates, Cumming, her aunt, Barbara Hill Bell, Albany, Georgia, uncle Charles Hill and wife, Pamela, Cullowhee, NC, niece Sophia Bates and nephew Marcos Bates, Cumming, and first cousins, Rene Reed, Ellijay, GA, and Charles Walter Hill, Jr., Asheville, NC. Barbara appreciated the support of her sisters-in-law, Debra Webb, Carrollton, GA, Patti Waldron, Pell City, AL, and Karen Gould, Griffin, GA. Barbara, a resident of Cumming, was active in church activities in Michigan, her former residence for 17 years where she sang and taught a youth group before her illness with AML. She was given abundant support and kindness by members of her church community in Michigan, especially friends Joy and Creig Klute. Barbara delivered all four children by natural childbirth and home taught her children for several years. Her Holy Women of the Past, by Calvary Press, showed her interest in the character of unforgettable heroines of the Bible and religious history. Her devotional "Whispers of Grace" began on her Michigan church's website and eventually grew into the book. On her last full day she patiently listened to her father's daily reading, this time from Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck, which her husband recently read. She enjoyed reading fiction to Biblical commentary. Discussing religious and political history with her father, she retained her interest and curiosity up to the last. She showed this indomitable spirit in her struggle with leukemia at the University of Michigan and Emory's Winship Cancer Center. To the end she believed that she would overcome AML. Support came from many loyal friends she made at her new church in Cumming, including Sandy Shattuck, Sidney Bullard, Jan Barnett, and many others. The family requests that in lieu of flowers any contributions be made to Parkway Presbyterian Church, 5830 Bethelview Rd., Cumming, GA, or to Winship Cancer Center for her special appreciation to the dedicated nursing staff with whom she spent many weeks, steadfastly learning and remembering their names and personalities. Funeral services will be held Wednesday, November 7th at 11 o'clock at Westview Abbey Chapel with entombment to follow at Westview Abbey. The family will receive friends Tuesday evening from 7 to 9 at H.M. Patterson & Son, Oglethorpe Hill Chapel, 4550 Peachtree Road, NE, Atlanta, Georgia, 30319.