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Of all the funeral cards, that circulate out there, I wonder how many ever find their way back to the families of origin. A simple funeral card is the summation of a life lived.
Enjoy the discovery process.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

K. Gardner

K. Gardner's card actually is an advertisement card, nevertheless a card worthy of a bit of investigating.   From the business card that accompanies the ad card, it is known that K. Gardner is an embalmer from Tennessee.  On Ebay, February 2010, the card was listed by seller, Woodenpeglet.
Initials on documents can be brick wall in the making.  However, initial K. with surname Gardner seemed plausible to solution.
At Ancestry.com, the 1944 Nashville, TN, city directory, Kossie Gardner wife Eleanor funeral director 1511 Jefferson.  This portion matches the street address on the business card.  The city directory provided new information with the home address of Mr. and Mrs. Gardner 2707 Hefferman, Nashville, TN.
Delving a bit more into Kossie Gardner's online records, on his World War I draft registration, he states he was born May 24, 1897 in Tennessee.   On June 5, 1918, when he completed his draft registration, he resided in Pulaski County, Tennessee with his first wife, Mrs. Ever Gene Gardner.
The Tennessee marriage records his marriage to Ellen McWorter 23 Oct 1930 in Hickman County, Tennessee.
Interestingly, Kossie Gardner, Sr. may have had a son named Kossie Gardner, Jr.  Kossie Jr. was a Nashville-based organist who recorded a couple of LPs in the late 1960’s as well as doing session work. His cover of Jimi Hendrix’s "Fire" hails from his 1969 "Pipes of Blue" LP, which became a huge hit.
I'm curious to learn if the Gardner family has several of these advertising cards still in their possession.

5 comments:

Dee said...

Wonder if Kossie Gardner Jr. learned to play the organ at his Dad's funeral home before meeting up with Jimi Hendrix.

Euterpe said...

He is my great grandfather. I will check with my cousins.

Anonymous said...

In the 1960's, my ex-spouse, Steve Blailock, our son Lloyd Garland (Hank) and myself lived in Nashville. Steve and Kossie,Jr. were good friends. Steve was a guitarist. He passed away on July 19, 2013 and Kossie, Jr. passed in October, 2009. They used to jam together. They were great. I am interested to know if Kossie, Jr's. wife and children, two daughters, are still in Nashville. I believe the daughters were named Kisha and Keeya. S. Gayle Blailock Katayama

Anonymous said...

I was a vocalist with Kossie in the 60s. He was a great player. He reveled Groove Holmes, Jimmy Smith and others in his time. We played clubs like The Carausel in Printers Alley when it was not fashionable for Blacks to do so and Deborah's Casino Royale to name two that offered good gigs for black jazz players. God bless his soul

Anonymous said...

He is my grandfather, are we related?