Rodney Eugene Gardner, age 71, of Vandalia, IL was born on April 12, 1953 in St. Louis, MO, and passed away on August 11, 2024 at SBL Fayette County Hospital in Vandalia, IL.

Rodney is preceded in death by his Big Mamma, Icey Gardner; his mother, Helen Montgomery; step-father, Tommy Montgomery; brother, Alexander "Big Jim" Gardner and his sisters, Beverly Owens and Judy Wade. He is survived by his wife, Cathleen "Katie" Gardner; his sisters, Linda Petty and Donna Paige Dancer; along with several nieces and nephews.

There will be no services held at this time. Miller Funeral Home, Vandalia, IL, is in charge of arrangements. Online memories and condolences may be shared with the family at www.millerfh.net.

A MEMORIAL FOR RODNEY AS TOLD BY HIS WIFE, KATIE

"Babe", my Soul Mate passed away last Sunday. This will be the first time we've been apart as we were inseparable from the day we met, back in 1997. By February 14th of the following year, we were married in the Holy Metropolitan Baptist Church. Where you saw one, you saw the other, we were always together, even getting jobs together later in our lives so that we could be close to each other. He was a funny and beautiful man.

Rodney had grown up in St. Louis. He loved the Cardinals and the Blues, collecting many clothes and memorabilia of both. He also loved Formula One racing, football, basketball, golf and just sports in general and could tell you anything you needed to know about the players, their stats, what teams they played on and had played on. He especially loved to fish and was always looking for the next good place to catch some big ones. His knowledge was vast when it came to music. He would literally know the words to almost every song he listened to, who the artists were and what instruments they played. He was a huge fan of the KSHE Classic Show and listened to it religiously every Sunday, no matter where we were living at the time.

Soon after we were married, we moved to Ocean Beach, California. We both loved the ocean and being the "water people" that we were, we were in heaven. We eventually made our way back to St. Louis, but it wasn't long before we got that bug to move. We eventually ended up settling in Silver City, New Mexico, where Rodney drove a Propane delivery truck; and after that, the job he was most proud of (and he worked MANY jobs throughout his life), working in the Copper Mine there. We also were both Volunteer Firefighters, with Rodney getting his First Responder certificate, which he was also very proud of having obtained. After 8 years there, we moved back to California, staying mostly in the San Diego area. It was then that we decided to get into Security working several venues throughout the Southern California area. One of these was a Metallica concert at PETCO Park, where he was posted up by the stage. He was in absolute heaven being that close to the musicians of one of the bands he loved.

We moved back to St. Louis where he continued his career in Security eventually retiring around the first part of this year. He was able to enjoy the beautiful lake side property where we have lived since July and was able to go fishing off of our dock the day before he passed, even though it was very difficult for him to do so.

For those of you that had the good fortune to meet Rodney and, even better, get to know him, he was truly one of a kind. I'm missing you Babe......