Reerand Sanford Garner; D.C. Rector Who Worked For Peace Abroad, 82
DGH
The Rev. Sanford Garner Jr., a former rector of Christ Episcopal Church
in Georgetown and later interim provost of Washington National
Cathedral, died September 30, 2006, of pancreatic cancer at his home in
the District [Washington DC], at the age of 82.
Rev. Garner -- "a model of how important a priest can be in the modern
world," said Librarian of Congress James H. Billington -- served
parishes in Tennessee and Wisconsin before coming to Christ Church in
1973. Issues of peace, justice and reconciliation, both in the United
States and abroad, were a central focus of his life and ministry. He
was a member of the Washington Diocese Commission on Peace and the
diocese's Inter-Racial Task Force and Standing Committee.
In the 1970s, he helped establish House of Hope, a peace center in
Galilee for Palestinian and Israeli young people, and was active in
peace initiatives in Central America and Bosnia. In 1985, he and his
wife co-founded the Washington Cooperation Circle, part of an
interfaith global peace organization called United Religions
Initiative. He also was one of the founders of Episcopal Caring
Response to AIDS (ECRA) and of the Georgetown Senior Center.
He resigned as rector of Christ Church in 1990 and served as interim
provost of National Cathedral until his retirement in 1992. He served
as honorary chaplain to the British Embassy in Washington and in 1991
hosted Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip during a visit to the
cathedral.
She was refreshingly late, The Washington Post noted, although the Rev.
Garner was unfazed. "She seemed very interested in the cathedral
itself," he said, in what The Post described as "his soft Tennessee
accent." In 1997, the queen commissioned him an Officer of the Most
Excellent Order of the British Empire.
The Rev. Garner was born in Henning, Tenn., and was a student at the
University of Tennessee before joining the Army in 1943. He served as a
combat infantry officer in the 6th Armored Division of the 3rd Army in
Europe.
In the spring of 1945, he was assigned to Supreme Headquarters Allied
Expeditionary Forces in London and Versailles and on July 3, 1945, was
in the first contingent of U.S. troops to enter Berlin. He also served
as aide-de-camp to Brig. Gen. Stuart Cutler in France and Belgium and
aide-de-camp to Maj. Gen. John T. Lewis, commanding general of Western
Base Section in Paris.
After the war, he returned to the University of Tennessee, from which
he graduated in 1949. After considering both medical and law school, he
enrolled in the School of Theology at the University of the South in
Sewanee, Tenn., where he received a master of divinity degree in 1952.
He also did postgraduate work at St. Augustine's College in Canterbury,
England, and received a certificate in clinical pastoral training from
Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
Survivors include his wife of 46 years, Mary Cox Garner of Washington
DC; three sons, Sanford Garner III of Washington dc, James Allen Garner
of Bozeman, Montana, and Robert Reiney Garner of San Francisco,
California; and two grandchildren.
Washington Post -- Joe Holley
DGH
I meant to say Reverand.