Sidney Gardner

Sid Gardner was born in London, England, on November 2, 1923, and moved with his family to Elyria, Ohio, when he was four years old. One of ten children, Sid joined the U.S. Army at 17 after graduating from high school. His first posting was at Camp Sibert in Alabama, with the Chemical Warfare Division, followed by deployment through Japanese-occupied waters aboard a Liberty Ship. His crew used sonar and evasive maneuvers to avoid submarine attacks. This was a harrowing journey that lasted 62 days and included a stop in Hobart, Australia.

He spent the next three years stationed in Kolkata, India, working in a photographic lab. There, he developed thousands of rolls of film containing letters home and classified aerial surveillance images. After the war, Sid began studying engineering at Ohio State but returned home due to his father's illness. He supported his mother, helped raise his siblings, worked full-time, and earned a degree in Industrial Management at Case Western Reserve.

Sid built a lengthy career as an industrial engineer, first at Thew Shovel and Lorain Crane, and later at Babcock & Wilcox, where he worked on nuclear and fossil fuel power systems in both the U.S. and Canada until his retirement in 1989. He married Marie, his wife of 62 years, and together they raised two children, Cathy and Alan. Today, Sid resides in Evansville, Indiana, where he enjoys spending time with his growing family, staying up-to-date with current events, trading stocks, and still drives himself to Starbucks.