Cows Go Moo

John Hale Gardner, our beloved husband, father, brother, and friend, surrounded by his loving family, passed away on September 26, 2008 after succumbing to complications due to advanced age.

John Hale was born August 24, 1922, in Logan, Utah, to Willard and Rebecca Viola Hale Gardner. He was the second youngest of seven children and their father was a professor of soil physics at Utah State Agricultural College near his home in Logan.

John Hale studied physics at Utah State University, graduating in three years as the valedictorian of his class. Then he attended MIT and helped develop radar during World War II. He also attended Harvard University where he got his PhD in Physics. His graduate work contributed to three different Nobel prizes in physics.

He married his high school sweetheart, Olga Hellen Dotson, in the Boston Mission Home on July 23, 1943, and they were sealed the next year in the Logan Temple. He was devoted to Olga his whole life and was her greatest fan, as she had a beautiful soprano voice and shared her talent in many ways. They had eight wonderful children, as he would always say, who brought him great joy.

In 1949 he came to Provo to teach physics, mathematics, and astronomy at a much smaller Brigham Young University. He loved his students and colleagues, and he was instrumental in the growth and development of BYU. He particularly enjoyed teaching the Honor's Colloquium, and he was beloved and influential in the lives of his students.

John Hale had a strong testimony of Jesus Christ, and he served in many capacities in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, including bishop, high councilman, and gospel doctrine teacher.

He is survived by his wife, Olga, of 65 years; 8 children: Helen Elizabeth (Tracy Hall), John Willard (Kathryn), Kristin (Ron Spears), Rebecca, Robert Dotson (Deborah), Eric William (Connie), Ann, Margaret Irene (John Naegle); 37 grandchildren; 36 great grandchildren; 1 sister, Relda (Frank Bringhurst), and 1 brother Willard (DeAnn).

Funeral services will be held on Friday, October 3, 2008 at 2:00 p.m. at the Oak Hills 1st Ward, 1038 North 1200 East, Provo. Friends may call at the Ward Chapel on Thursday evening 6-8 p.m. or on Friday one hour prior to services. Interment Provo City Cemetery. Condolences may be sent to Info@BergMortuary.com.