Frank Gardner

Frank Gregory Gardner, of Avon Lake, Ohio, went to be with the Lord on January 25, 2024, at the age of 21. He was a student at the University of Akron studying finance. He graduated from Lutheran West High School in 2021 where he was a varsity wrestler and member of the National Honor Society. He placed in many wrestling tournaments and won a handful. Frank was great on top with an unstoppable arm bar. He worked very hard to stay in his weight class and spent many a family dinner looking longingly at his siblings’ plates piled high with his mother’s amazing cooking. 

Frank was a born entrepreneur with a creative mind and spirit. At the age of 8, he set up shop outside the classroom selling sharpened pencils to his classmates on test days. He made homemade slime and sold that, too. As he grew older, he dabbled in the world of cryptocurrency, doing his best to explain it to his befuddled relatives at birthday gatherings and holidays. He took pride in his portfolio and used the profits to buy his first car, a 1986 Pontiac Fiero. All the middle-aged men in the neighborhood were jealous. 

Frank was known as a hard worker and a problem solver. He spent three summers working in the hot sun at Cedar Point, and he was the only intern manager there this past summer. Frank loved the outdoors, fishing, camping, and prepping for the end of civilization. He had a wall in his teenage bedroom filled with survival gear and dehydrated food packets. He loved debating politics with his friends and family, passionately talking a mile a minute. His impish grin, enthusiasm, and energy will be sorely missed.

He is survived by his mother and father, Carrie and David Gardner, and his siblings, Jack and Nora Gardner; his loving girlfriend, Julia Molik; his grandfather, Thomas Gardner; his grandparents, Greg and Nancy Albright; his uncle, Jason Albright; his aunt, Ann Gardner; his uncle, Johan Smit; his aunt and uncle, Karen Menyhart and Nick Traenkner; and his six cousins, Gena and Vivi Menyhart, Jacob, Samantha and Zachary Smit, and Allison Albright. Frank was preceded in death by his grandmother, Margaret Gardner.

There will be a Mass of Christian Burial on Tuesday, January 30, 2024, at 10:30 a.m., at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, at 32929 Lake Road, Avon Lake, Ohio, 44012. The family will receive guests an hour before the mass at 9:30 a.m. A private burial service will take place the next day at Holy Cross Cemetery in Akron, Ohio.