Community will miss its friend, Robert Gardner

If you felt like you knew Robert Gardner, you aren’t alone. For years

the Daily Pilot was fortunate enough to run columns penned by the

former judge and nearly forever Newport Beach resident. (Most

recently, we have been rerunning his columns in the Sunday paper.)

He told tales of his own life, the early years of Newport Beach --

often sordid but always triumphant and life-affirming -- and the many

amazing people and moments he had encountered during his long life as

a young man during Prohibition, as a judge both here and in American

Samoa, and as a bodysurfer and beach bum who never lost his love for

the sand.

The judge, famous for his ability to turn a legal ruling into a

literary gem, wrote all these stories in such a familiar, funny way

that it was hard not to feel he was a friend.

Gardner passed away peacefully Aug. 27, at 93, in Corona del Mar,

where for decades he had lived, played and woven himself inextricably

into the history of this community.

More fortunate than this newspaper and its readers were those who

knew the judge personally. He was full of life, full of wit, full of

caring. There are many stories of him taking extra time to help

others out, whether they be city workers, people he’d just met,

criminals in front of his bench or even, most needy perhaps of all,

journalists covering the courts. There are the stories he told of the

help he occasionally needed to get out of a scrape. He obviously was

a fun, fearsome, loyal friend.

He also was a loving husband to his wife, Katy, for nearly 60

years. Judging by his columns, she admirably put up with her husband

and his at-times roguish friends through some of his most colorful

moments.

And there were his eyebrows. We think the judge would find us in

contempt if we failed to mention his bushy, bushy eyebrows.

He is gone now, and it is safe to say he’s irreplaceable.

But can you imagine the corner of heaven Robert Gardner has

already found, which people had made their way there before him, and

just what antics they all are up to?