Gardner W. Beckett Jr. ’46

GARDNER BECKETT DIED Mar. 22, 1993, in Tampa, while arguing a racialdiscrimination suit in the federal court there. Gardner was born in Tampa and grew up in Jacksonville, attending Robert E. Lee H.S. there. Gardner joined us in 1942, but left for the army later that year. He became a second It., and rejoined us in 1946.

Gardner attended the Woodrow Wilson School (then S.P.I.A.), graduating in 1948. An active undergraduate, Gardner was treasurer of Prospect Club, a Commons waiter, a PRINCE reporter, and on the reunion committee. Gardner spent a year at Harvard Law, then switched careers to become a Boy Scout executive in Perry, Fla. In 1955, he completed his training in the law at the Stetson Univ. College of Law. After that, he became a partner in Nelson Beckett and Nelson in St. Petersburg, where he was known as a staunch defender of civil liberties. In 1991, Gardner received the Nelson Poynter Award, Florida's highest tribute for lifetime work in civil liberties. Gardner was an elder in the Presbyterian church, commanding officer of the Florida Reserve Judge Advocate Unit, and chairman of the legal panel of the St. Petersburg A.C.L.U.

Gardner leaves his widow, Beverly; his children, Susan Ragland, Gardner 111, David, Kay, and Mary Downing. To all his family, the class sends its sincere condolences.

The Class of 1946