Tragedy Strikes the Family
After losing his farm, Ava’s dad, Jonas Bailey Gardner, worked on other farms while her mom Mary Elizabeth “Molly” Gardner, got a job managing dormitories and boarding houses. Things were already tough for the hard-working family and about to get worse.
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When Gardner was just 15 years old, she lost her father when he got sick with bronchitis and died. Obviously, this was a terrible loss for the family, and the devastating tragedy moved them back to North Carolina. She graduated high school there and took secretarial classes. However, she was destined for much more than an office job.