Kenneth A. Gardner, a featured vocalist with Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians for many years, died of a massive heart attack on July 26, 2002. He was 89 years old and lived in Plandome. For many years he was a leader of the Plandome Fire Department. In 1988 the Department held a "roast" for Kenny on his 70th birthday. (He was actually born in 1913 but took five years off his age for publication.)

Highlights of his life were presented in a "This is Your Life" format. These included his birth and early years in Lake View, Iowa; his selection as lead vocalist for the Guy Lombardo band; his combat record in World War II as a highly decorated and wounded commander of the Army's elite Infantry Rangers, campaigning in France, Holland and Germany; his move to Plandome with his wife, Elaine (nee Lombardo) after the war and his 35-year service as Fireman, Fire Chief and Village Trustee, as well as his devotion to the children of the community."

Plandome Mayor Scott Wilson gave the eulogy for Kenny at St. Mary's R.C. Church on Tuesday, July 30. It reads, in part:

"For half a century Kenny Gardner was a dedicated member of our Department, and a beloved neighbor to all of us in the village. He was literally an icon--if that term can be properly used to describe someone who was just so 'down-home.' I first met Kenny more than 30 years ago when I was a new recruit to the PFD and he was one of the old hands. At that time he had not yet accepted an official role at the top of the officer ranks, because he was still traveling with the Lombardo band. But even then, he was the heart and soul of the Department. Every meeting night whenever he was away, you could expect Kenny to call in from the road.

"The band was playing the 'circuit,' as he called it, one-night stands at ballroom dance halls. They still existed out there across the Midwest, probably the last bastion against the disco invasion of the '70s. And wherever they laid over-whether in St. Louis or North Platte, Nebraska-Kenny would visit the local firehouse and report back to us in Plandome.

"But once his traveling days were over, Kenny was able to take on greater responsibilities and formally moved up the ranks. More than that, he was able to spend extended time helping out the folks in the village he loved so much. He never had any kids of his own, but Kenny served as a father figure to many individual youngsters.

"Kenny also had a special influence on the adults in our community. He once told me that in this village there are so many talents and capabilities, we should be able to get almost anything done 'in-house.' That was his credo for Plandome-"We take care of our own."

Continuing to speak of Kenny's association with the Plandome Fire Department, Mayor Wilson said "Those red shirts meant the world to him. And that old engine out front was Kenny's pride and joy. When we leave the church later it will lead the cortege into Plandome and once around the Village Green in a symbolic tribute to express our gratitude for all he gave t our community in that third career of his."