Gardner Murray Stultz, 87, of Cary, NC, passed away peacefully on October 18, 2024, at Heavenly Family Care Home in Rolesville, NC.
Gardner worked in the insurance industry in Hartford, CT after college and continued his career at the George Friedlander Company in Charleston, WV. He earned the CPCU (Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter) designation and later became a risk manager for Union Boiler Corporation and the Willams group. Gardner made Charleston, WV his home for 50 years and was a member of the Charleston Rotary Club and President of the Harvard Club of WV. Gardner served on the vestry at St. John's and was an usher at St. John's and Matthew's Episcopal Churches. He was a supporter of Charleston's Manna Meal and volunteered to serve lunches for many years. Gardner remained an active member of the East Chapel Hill Rotary Club in his retirement in North Carolina.
Gardner was a devoted father to his five children and worked tirelessly to provide a college education for each of them. He made time for each of his children and supported their various hobbies and interests. He took them camping, attended recitals, chaperoned school field trips, and drove his son to various skate parks. Gardner was the longest serving member of the Holz Elementary School Parent/Teacher organization. He valued family connections and drove the family to New England each summer to visit grandparents and cousins. Gardner enjoyed distance running and regularly entered the Charleston Distance Run, The Great Race in Pittsburgh, and the Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta. He later became a regular morning mall walker.
Gardner Murray Stultz was born on October 11, 1937, in Boston, MA to Marjorie May MacEachern and Irving Washburn Stultz. His father was a Navy chaplain and his mother was a nurse. Gardner attended the Browne and Nichols School in Cambridge, MA and, in 1960, received his A.B. degree, concentrating in economics, from Harvard College where he was a member of Kirkland House and the Harvard Class of 1960. Even though Gardner lived in West Virginia, he was almost a “regular” at the Class luncheons held in the Greater Boston Area. On December 31, 1977, he married Elizabeth Lee Estill. Gardner and Libby were happily married 47 years.
Gardner is survived by his wife, Elizabeth Estill Stultz, daughters, Laura Katherine Stultz (Juan Pablo Claude) of Birmingham, AL, Karen Elizabeth Stultz Connolly (John) of Cork, Ireland, Jan Stultz D'Arcy (Jim) of Malvern, PA and Margaret Louisa Stultz Polyak (Christian) of Detroit, MI and son John Gardner Stultz (Kate Mordarski) of Portland OR. He was a proud grandfather to his 10 grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his brother Newell Maynard Stultz of Barrington, RI.
A funeral service was held on November 9, 2024, at the Chapel of the Cross in Chapel Hill, NC, with The Revered Dr. Karen Connor McGugan officiating.
Condolences may be sent to the family at legacy.com.
Slightly modified version of the obituary published by the Charleston Gazette-Mail.