Joseph Gardner

November 3, 1990 - September 18, 2022

Joseph Kerksick Gardner died suddenly at age 31 on September 18 at home in Los Angeles. The family is awaiting the results of an autopsy to determine the medical cause of death in such a vigorous young person. A service will be held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Saturday, October 8, at noon at St. Michael’s Church at 1445 N. 24th Street, with a memorial and celebration of life immediately following, 2-5pm at Turner Hall, 1034 North Vel R. Phillips Ave. An additional memorial is planned in Oakland, California on Saturday, October 29. Oakland memorial details can be found at joekgardner.org.

Joe was born on November 3, 1990, at Milwaukee’s Sinai Hospital. He spent fourth grade at St. George the Martyr C of E Primary School in London, while his mother had a public policy fellowship in the U.K. Otherwise, Joe grew up in Milwaukee; attending Highland Community School, MacDowell Montessori and Rufus King High School. At Rufus King, Joe was one of three students to win Milwaukee Chamber Theater’s Young Playwrights Competition, which meant that his one-act was professionally produced in the 2008 Young Playwrights Festival. In high school, Joe began working as a lifeguard at Washington Park pool, where he continued during summers in college and was promoted to Head Guard in 2012.

Joe earned a B.A. from the University of Chicago in 2013, and graduated with honors in sociology. He was a strong advocate for addressing racial and economic inequities, and fighting for broader access to higher education. During college, he tutored around Chicago’s South Side through the Neighborhood Schools Program. After graduating, he worked for a year for the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, helping first-generation high school students in Chicago complete college applications.

Joe relocated to Oakland, California, in 2014, to be near his brothers and sister-in-law, who were living in the Bay Area. There he joined the nonprofit group College Track, where he became Senior College Completion Director, responsible for mentoring and guiding hundreds of high school students all the way through graduation from institutions of higher learning. After his recent move to Los Angeles, he stayed with College Track and became the Site Director for Boyle Heights.

Joe lived in perpetual motion—he was up for any kind of dancing. He was an all-city soccer and tennis player, and played on the Rufus King freshman basketball team. He played goalie for soccer teams at all school levels and continued with rec teams everywhere he lived. He rarely missed an Arsenal, Packers or Bucks game. He was happiest outdoors and spent many hours in Oakland’s parks, the rivers and lakes of western Massachusetts, and Lake Michigan. He biked almost everywhere and kept a clean shirt in his raggedy backpack. Wherever Joe went, a bright light followed.

Joe is survived by his parents John S. Gardner and Julie A. Kerksick, both of Milwaukee; Ann Bowe, his stepmother of Milwaukee; his brother Nathaniel G. Kerksick of Los Angeles; his brother David K. Gardner and sister-in-law Sapna Thottathil and their three children Kiran Gardner, Kavita Gardner and Karthik Gardner, of Oakland; and his partner Farah Noor of Los Angeles, eight cousins, aunts, uncles, many surrogate parents and siblings and an extraordinary group of friends.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Joe K. Gardner Memorial Fund for College Track, or Highland Community School. Donations and memorial information at joekgardner.org.