Wayne Gardner

Look for the word “longevity” in the encyclopedia and you’ll see a picture of Wayne Gardner next to the definition. Born on Oct. 10, 1910 in Fremont, Neb., Gardner started officiating volleyball matches at age 14, and he retired at age 92 in 2003.

Sports have always been a big part of Gardner’s life. He participated in football, basketball, softball, track and volleyball while growing up in Fremont, while at now defunct Cotner College in Lincoln, and later at Midland Lutheran College in his hometown.

At age 14, he officiated his first match, a tussle between Lincoln YMCA and Fremont YMCA. His last match came some 78 years later at the Puget Sound Junior Regional in Olympia in 1993. In between, Gardner won numerous awards, including the U.S. Volleyball Association “Leader in Volleyball” award in 1981 and the “Doc” Booth Award in 1985. Locally, the Tacoma-Pierce County Volleyball Officials Board presented him with the Match Point Honor Award in 1988.

Volleyball has taken Gardner around the world, from the community centers of Pierce County to Fort Lewis and to Korea as a civilian recreation supervisor until 1973. Although he retired in 1977, he continued to develop sports programs on the base.

As a state-rated official for more than 20 years, he officiated at six high school state championships, the last when he was 79.

He has been inducted into the Midland Warrior Athletic Hall of Fame, the Washington Officials Association Hall of Fame, the National YMCA Volleyball Hall of Fame, and now the Tacoma-Pierce County Athletic Hall of Fame. He is also the first referee inducted into the Washington Interscholastic Athletics Association Hall of Fame, and the Wayne Gardner Inspirational Award is presented annually at the Puget Sound Regional Championships.

As the first civilian sports director at Fort Lewis, Gardner organized the Fort Lewis Athletic Officials Association. He was a member of the Western Washington Officials Association for both basketball and football and is a lifetime member of the International Association of Approved Basketball Officials (IAABO).