Ti Valley Cemetery
Pittsburg, Oklahoma

Agnes Dorothy Gardner
November 12, 2021
Submitted by: Carol Spear Rice

Agnes Dorothy "Gran Gran" (Armstrong) Gardner, 98, of Ti Valley, was called to her heavenly home on Monday, November 8, 2021 in McAlester. A funeral service will be held at 10:00 a.m. Saturday, November 13, 2021 at Ti Valley Baptist Church officiated by Rev. Willie Virden. Burial will follow at Ti Valley Cemetery. Pallbearers will be Tracy Gardner, Wyatt Gardner, Morgan Gardner, Team Hackler, Carter Hackler, and Tyas Short. Honorary pallbearers will be fellow church members of Ti Valley Baptist Church along with special friends: Eugene and Linda Escoe and Pam Sweetin. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Ti Valley Baptist Church, 2595 Pine Top Road, Pittsburg, OK 74560. Dorothy was born to Richard Parvis and Kitty Dee (Harbison) Armstrong on a cold and wet April 4, 1923, eight miles north of Lexington in Cleveland County. The midwife had to walk to the next town to register her birth the following day. Dorothy never liked the name "Agnes," so she went by the name her grandma called her, "Sall or Sallie," until she got married. Once Dorothy became a grandma, she's been known as "Gran Gran" ever since. Growing up, there were 11 kids in her family, all sleeping in the same room of their little two room house. They cooked on an old wood cook stove eating homemade biscuits, gravy, churned butter, sorghum syrup, and fryer chickens as well as homemade sauerkraut. She said they always lived in prairie country and worked hard, often missing school to hoe and pick cotton and harvest corn. Holidays were just another day to work. Where she grew up, there weren't many cedars or pines, so they never had a Christmas tree; but she remembered once getting a little bottle of nail polish for Christmas that she was very proud of. Dorothy's mom taught her how to cook, sew, and crochet. She made the most beautiful things you ever saw, usually without a pattern. Growing up, Dorothy made her clothes out of feed sacks. She had a cute little doll made out of a corn cob and she made clothes for it. They didn't have a car and had to ride in a covered wagon to town about once a month, so Dorothy learned how to ride a horse. She was a "cowgirl" from a very young age and she loved it. She could make the best chicken and egg noodles; homemade biscuits, and pecan pies you ever ate. She said growing up she washed a lot of dishes and carried a lot of firewood. She attended Maysville and Pittsburg schools. She said she loved to play basketball, but her daddy made her quit to work on the farm. Dorothy married David Floyd Gardner on July 20, 1940 at Pine Top Grocery & General Store. They were married 65 years. She loved living in Ti Valley because as she often said "things are just kindly SIMPLER out here in the country." Dorothy worked as skilled seamstress at Elsings and Seamprufe, a wonderful cook at Wheelers Café, and finished her career in production and later in child care at the Child Development Center NAD/McAlester Army Ammunition Plant. Even at 98 years young, Dorothy still enjoyed so many things she'd done all her life… hunting and fishing, sewing clothes, quilting and crocheting, growing vegetable and flower gardens, canning peppers and jellies… well, making just about anything she could imagine. Her grandson, Tracy, said she could sure shoot a gun and she didn't mind catching and cutting the head off of a big old bass to fry it up for supper. She passed those loves on down to her grandkids. More than anything, Gran Gran loved spending time with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and they loved spending time with her, soaking up her wisdom and her stories of the old days. Too many precious memories made over the years to count. Dorothy was saved and baptized in Muddy Boggy Creek in the spring of 1939, and was a long-time member of Ti Valley Baptist Church where she taught Children's Church. She loved her Savior more than anything. She often told us and again recently, "I don't know why the Good Lord is leaving me here. I told Him that if He'd just open that door I'd come on in. I guess He will when He's ready for me." Dorothy was ready every day to meet her Savior, as we all should be because no one is promised tomorrow. We pray that you live life to the fullest just as she did. Laugh, smile, create, spread LOVE and JOY, being prepared to meet Jesus at every moment. Our Gran Gran was truly one in a million, a rare gem. They just don't make 'em like her anymore. We thank God for her, for the love, wisdom, and the roots she planted for us all to grow from. She left a lasting legacy on us all. Dorothy was preceded in death by her parents: Richard and Kitty Armstrong; her husband: David Floyd Gardner on August 27, 2005; son: David Dee Gardner; grandson: David Preston, Jr; sisters: Irene King, Virgie Armstrong, Louise Curtis; and brothers: Bill Armstrong, Bud Armstrong, Leroy Armstrong, Richard Armstrong, Pete Armstrong, and George Armstrong. She is survived by her son: Donald Gardner and wife, Jeanie of Kiowa; grandchildren: Tracy and Melissa Gardner of Kiowa, Chrystal and Tyas Short of Krebs, Angela Sellers of Dallas, Texas; great-grandchildren: Wyatt Gardner, Morgan Gardner, Rylee Beck, Phyfer Beck, Tyas Short, Jr, Landon Pingleton, Jessica Preston, Emily, Isabelle, Colton, Jacob; great-great-grandson: Tyas Jay Short; sister: Alice Betty Rankin of Blanco; and special friends: Pam Sweetin, Eugene and Linda Escoe, all of Ti Valley.

Ti Valley Cemetery Page|  |Pittsburg County Cemetery Page|  |Home|