Marguerite Adair (James) Gardner, 95, died peacefully in her home in Roeland Park, Kansas, on January 13, 2026, having lived a life characterized by joyful love, deep gratitude, and kindness to others.
Marguerite was a role model for living each moment fully -- for taking chances, choosing adventure, serving others, and embracing the road less traveled.
Born on March 7, 1930, in Kansas City, Missouri, Marguerite was the second child of Elton Guy James and Genevieve Barbara James (Campbell). She graduated from Manchester Elementary School and East High School and attended Kansas City University on scholarship for two years before marrying Charles Russell Gardner, with whom she had five children. That marriage later ended in divorce.
At the age of 43, Marguerite returned to college at the University of Missouri- Kansas City, earning a degree in elementary education. She later completed a master’s degree in special education at the University of Missouri in Columbia. She taught fourth and fifth grade in the Kansas City, Kansas, school district for 19 years. During that time, she took a year-long leave of absence to live and teach at an American School in Monterey, Mexico. She spent her summers working in national parks, including Denali National Park in Alaska.
Marguerite loved teaching children, and she loved to travel. At the age of 67, after her own children were grown, she combined those passions by living and teaching children in remote areas around the world, including New Stuyahak, Alaska, a small village of Yupik Eskimos, located on the Nushagak River. She then moved to Africa to teach children in Saoma, a gold mining community accessible by bush plane out of Bamako, Mali. Marguerite celebrated her 70th birthday in Saoma, followed by a trip to Timbuktu.
An enthusiast of the art of origami, Marguerite used this skill to connect with children across cultures and continents. After returning to Kansas City, she continued teaching and worked into her 80s. Her travels also continued, including a memorable trip to Australia with her older sister, Emma Jean and her niece Katherine (Katie) McKinin.
Marguerite was a life-long learner who loved experiencing new things and meeting new people. She was an avid reader, walker, and origamist. She was a teacher, traveler, sister, aunt, and friend. And, most dear to her, she was a mother, a grandmother and a great-grandmother.
Her children and grandchildren were always confident in her unconditional love and respect. She trusted our decisions, celebrated our successes, and held us together through our failures. We will miss you, Mom.
She is preceded in death by her sister Emma Jean McKinin and her nephew Donald James, Jr. Her survivors include her children: Ann Adair Kralicek (Bob), Jennifer Gardner Holder, James Russell Gardner (Pam Popp), Amelia Gardner Fitzpatrick (Frank), and Megan Gardner Seymour (Galen); six grandchildren: Elizabeth Marie Weisberg (Holder), Sydney Kathryn Popp, Ross Gardner Fitzpatrick, Eric Steven Popp, Madeline Gardner Seymour, and Lydia Gardner Seymour; two great grandchildren: Eloise Adair Weisberg and Rosealyn Evangeline Popp; her nieces and nephew: Katherine McKinin, Robin Wright (James), Nicholas McKinin; and her brother, Donald James (Donna).
A celebration of life service will be held in the spring at her beloved home.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Landon Center on Aging at the University of Kansas Medical Center, in memory of Marguerite.
The family extends heartfelt thanks to the staff at Saint Luke’s Community Hospital in Roeland Park and to the staff at Ascend Hospice for the compassionate care provided to Marguerite and to her family in the last weeks of her life.
