Obituary of Stanley Gardzina

AIKEN, SC:  Stanley Peter Gardzina, 83, passed away after a short period of declining health on February 24, 2021, in Aiken, SC, where he and his beloved wife of 55 years, Nancy (Kirkpatrick) Gardzina, had lived since retiring there from Pittsfield, MA, in 2004.

Born November 26, 1937, in North Adams, MA, Stanley was the youngest of John and Victoria (Zdon) Gardzina’s ten children.  He graduated from Drury High School in 1956 and later attended Cleveland Institute of Technology. Stanley was a proud Navy veteran, having traveled the world in the submarine service. An Engineering Guidance System Specialist, he retired from General Dynamics in Pittsfield in 1998.

Stanley loved sports and was a star athlete in basketball, track, and gymnastics during his high school years. A member of a well-known bowling family, he won the North Adams City High School candlepin bowling championship in both his junior and senior years. An avid winter sports enthusiast, he was a speed skater and certified ski instructor. In the summers, he spent many hours playing golf, especially in his later years.

A very successful Little League, Youth Soccer, and Summer Police Athletic League basketball coach, Stanley loved working with kids, and for a time he served as President of the Berkshire County Youth Soccer Association.

Music was another of Stanley’s passions. He studied the accordion for eight years, was a winner of the Western Massachusetts accordion competition, and was a frequent guest on a Polish American radio program as a teenager. Over the years, he taught himself how to play the piano, harmonica, guitar, tenor banjo, and five-string banjo. He loved to perform for and with his family and friends, often leading sing-a-longs in the family’s Pittsfield home when he and Nancy were raising their family.

In addition to his wife Nancy, Stanley is survived by his three loving children: Rebecca McAdoo (Steve), Wells, ME; Eric Gardzina (Sheri), Brentwood, TN; and Matthew Gardzina, Columbus, OH. He was also beloved “Pop-Pop” to his two grandchildren, Jack and Emma Gardzina.  Stanley also leaves a sister, Evelyn Davis, of Williamstown, MA, and was a favorite uncle to his many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, three sisters (Genevieve Ferdin, Helen Brendza, and Emily Harrington), and his five brothers (Edward, Joseph, Daniel, Francis, and John Gardzina).

A Requiem Mass will be celebrated on Monday, March 1, 2021 at 11AM at St. Mary Help of Christians Catholic Church, Fairfield St, with Father Fransisco Onate-Vargas as celebrant.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made in Stanley’s memory to FOTAS, www.fotasaiken.org, or to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, www.st.jude.org. 

The Historic George Funeral Home, 211 Park Ave., SW, Aiken, SC 29801 (803.649.6234), has charge of arrangements.

Expressions of sympathy for the family may be left by visiting www.georgefuneralhomes.com