Bernice Staie Gardner, 91, of 23748 US Route 11, died Friday at her home where she was under the care of her family and Hospice of Jefferson County.

Arrangements are with Hart & Bruce Funeral Home, Watertown.

Calling hours will be held from noon to 6 p.m. Monday, December 1, at the family home, 23748 US Route 11, Calcium.

A Mass of Christian burial will be said at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 2, at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church with the Rev. Jonas Tandayu, Pastor, officiating. Burial with military honors will follow in the Sanford Corners Cemetery.

Born June 22, 1923, in Chaumont, daughter of Richard and Florence Cottrell Staie, she graduated from Evans Mills High School in 1941. Following graduation, she attended Plattsburgh State Teachers College for three years.

Bernice enlisted in the Navy Waves in Rochester, NY, in 1944 and was discharged in 1946 from US Naval Barracks, Boston, MA with the rank of Mailman First Class.

She married Donald G. Gardner of Calcium, on June 15, 1947, at St. Mary's Catholic Church, Evans Mills, with her uncle Monsignor Benjamin Staie officiating.

She was employed as a clerk with the US Post Office in Evans Mills for 30 years, retiring in 1978. She and Donald also operated the family farm until 1978 when he retired. That year they built their log cabin home where she resided until her passing.

Among her survivors are three sons and two daughters-in-law, Donald Jr. and Diane, Calcium, Daniel, Calcium, and Douglas and Kimberlee, Navarre Beach, FL, four daughters and their husbands, Jean and Richard Doell, Calcium, Judith and Kenneth Piarulli, Burrville, Joyce and John Pignone, Rodman, and Jennifer and Michael Crestani, Calcium; a brother Bernard Staie, Liverpool and a sister Shirley Bush, Lyons Falls; 19 grandchildren, 19 great-grandchildren, and several nieces and nephews.

Her loving husband, Donald G. Gardner passed on February 14, 2009, a son, David, and two sisters, Helen Detcher and Marian Barr predeceased her.

Mrs. Gardner was a communicant of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church. She was a member of the Sacred Heart Foundation, National Milk Bottle Collectors' Association, LeRay Senior Citizens, Pine Grove Grange in Calcium, and was in several bowling leagues. She was a life member of the Agricultural Museum at Stone Mills.

She and her husband enjoyed traveling, which included two trips to Alaska and traveling across the country. She was a fan of the New York Mets and Syracuse basketball and enjoyed hosting family dinners.

Donations in her memory may be made to Immaculate Heart Central Schools, 1 Sterling Place, Watertown, NY 13601 or Finger Lakes Donor Recovery Network, 30 Corporate Woods, Rochester, NY 14623.

Online condolences may be made at www.hartandbrucefh.com.