Checka Gardner's Passing

John Riess emailed me a few moments ago to say that his brother had told him Checka Gardner's obit appeared in today's San Francisco Chronicle. The obit, which captures Checka's warm and buoyant spirit, is below.


GARDNER, Francesca

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Francesca "Checka" Marroquin Gardner, 69, died at home in her beloved San Francisco on Friday after a long illness, surrounded by family. Checka was born in New Haven, Conn., in 1940 and grew up in Scarsdale, N.Y. But she always said she found her spiritual home when she moved to California to attend Stanford University. She graduated with a degree in Math in 1962 and went on to Stanford Law School, one of four female students in the Class of 1965. She moved to San Francisco in 1968 and adopted the city with the enthusiasm that was her hallmark. Her interests, projects, and friendships were many and varied. She practiced law and raised two daughters. She collaborated on the 1975 collection of quotations, Know or Listen to Those Who Know, with her father, John W. Gardner. She was a gifted craftswoman who could install a skylight, piece a quilt or build a set of cabinets with ease and flair. Her ceramic work was a wonder. She loved the San Francisco Ballet and Opera, walking on Crissy Field, traveling and painting, making pasta, and building dollhouse furniture with her grandchildren. But mostly Checka loved the people in her life: her family and countless friends. Her warmth, candor and joie de vivre will be missed by all who knew her. She is survived by her mother, Aida Gardner of Stanford; a sister, Stephanie Trimble of San Francisco; daughters Jennifer Reese and Justine Reese, both of Mill Valley; and four grandchildren: Isabel Smoyer, Owen Reese, Stella Cushing and Ben Cushing. A memorial service will be held Wednesday at 4 p.m. at the Main Post Chapel, Building 130, Fisher Loop, in the Presidio. A reception will follow.


Checka and I, friends since Scarsdale where our parents were friends, talked several times over the past year about our cancers--mine a piece of cake compared to hers. She was unfailingly jolly, realistic, eager to take a chance on the latest experimental protocol, relishing life, and confident that our lives and deaths had meaning to the universe. I know many of us will miss her deeply and always. Love, Bill

Checka and her youngest granddaughter.

Checka's mother, Aida Gardner; Checka; Checka's daughter Justine Reese; Checka's granddaughter Stella Cushing

Checka's grandson Owen Reese; Checka; and Checka's granddaughter Isabel Smoyer