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1999 SESSION


SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 553
On the death of Shockley D. Gardner, Jr.

Agreed to by the Senate, February 25, 1999
Agreed to by the House of Delegates, February 26, 1999

WHEREAS, Shockley D. "Hap" Gardner, Jr., vice president of government and community affairs for Scott & Stringfellow Financial, Inc., died suddenly on February 11, 1999; and

WHEREAS, Hap Gardner served with distinction for 14 years as the founding executive director of the Virginia Resources Authority, a political subdivision of the Commonwealth, which during his tenure loaned over $1 billion to Virginia localities for water, wastewater treatment, and solid waste facilities; and

WHEREAS, Hap Gardner graduated from St. Christopher’s School, Wake Forest University, and the T. C. Williams School of Law at the University of Richmond before entering the United States Army in 1966; and

WHEREAS, Hap Gardner served with distinction for 44 months in Vietnam, where he was awarded the Bronze Star for Valor with an Oak Leaf Cluster, the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry, the Vietnamese Service Medal, and the Vietnamese Campaign Medal; and

WHEREAS, Hap Gardner, after his discharge from active duty in 1970, extended his commitment to his country and the Commonwealth by serving for 15 years in the United States Army Reserve, where he attained the rank of major, and for many years as a member of the military staff of the Governor, to which he was appointed in 1972; and

WHEREAS, Hap Gardner began his unique career, which always combined the best aspects of service to both the public and private sectors, by working for the House of Delegates’ Courts of Justice Committee and, later, as a deputy clerk of the Virginia Supreme Court; and

WHEREAS, Hap Gardner served a long and distinguished tenure as executive vice president of the Home Builders Association of Virginia, where his expertise and political acumen led to his selection as chairman of the board of commissioners of the Virginia Housing Development Authority, after long service as a commissioner of the board; and

WHEREAS, Hap Gardner was a member of the Leadership Metro Richmond Class of 1992, served as secretary of the Leadership Metro Richmond Alumni Association in 1993 and 1994, and was a member of the board from 1993 to 1996; and

WHEREAS, Hap Gardner’s commitment to public service carried through to his personal pursuits, which included his contributions as a trustee of Greensboro College; as a director of the Richmond Eye and Ear Hospital, the Atlantic Rural Exposition, and Elk Hill Farm; as a director and president of the Richmond Forum; and as president of the Virginia Cultural Laureate Society; and

WHEREAS, Hap Gardner leaves the Commonwealth a better place for his sense of honor and duty, his enthusiasm and remarkable personality, and, most of all, his love of family, friends, and tradition; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the General Assembly hereby note with great sadness the passing of an extraordinary Virginian, Shockley D. "Hap" Gardner, Jr.; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the Senate prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Kay Scott Gardner as an expression of the high regard in which the memory of Shockley D. "Hap" Gardner, Jr. is held by the members of the General Assembly.