A memorial service for Karin Cooley will be held Monday, July 8, at 2 p.m. at the Takilma Bible Church. A potluck supper will follow. The address is: 10344 Takilma Rd Cave Junction, OR.
John Gardiner died quietly in his own home June 15, 2024. He entered the Bristol hospice program May 14. He received much support from Journey Home in Cave Junction. His survivors include his wife Christine, his daughter Caragh Dawn Mann in New Zealand, and his daughter Katherine Thornton in England.
John was born in London England in October 1946, just after the end of the 2nd World War. He remembered food rations and scarce produce. His Father was a pioneer in the Community Gardens movement in London. His Mother taught cooking skills to chefs at a London university, so he grew up eating local, fresh, “organic”, well-prepared food.
John attended Hampton School and studied Latin, French, chess, and more. He went on to Imperial College London, where he graduated in Civil Engineering. His schoolmate Brian May was already a gifted musician in the early 60s, and John was part of the roadie team when Brian gave concerts with his first band, before Queen. [John heard Queen perform only once, in Portland 2002, with tickets by invitation from his friend.]
He went to work in the 1970s engineering for Thames River Conservancy, which later became the National Rivers Authority (the UK ‘NRA’). He was a man of many talents who had a keen interest in seeing other people succeed.
As Technical Planning Manager for the NRA ‘Jubilee River’ project, he oversaw the analysis, design and public consultation on the largest flood defense scheme ever built in the UK. It created 17 km of “new” river channel for the Thames through historic landscapes such as Eaton College and Windsor Castle. Today this project has not only reduced flood hazard risks for thousands of people, it has also created the largest wildlife habitat and outdoor recreation in SW England. He showed us how Engineers can work with Nature, meet the demands of function, create more beauty and wildlife habitats while saving the Public lots of money.
In 1993, John was awarded the first order of knighthood by the Queen, “Member of the British Empire” or MBE, for his work at the UK NRA. He met Christine in 1995, they fell in love with each other and with restoring rivers to a natural condition. They married in 1996, and moved to Oregon in 1998. Together they consulted widely in river and wetland restoration in Oregon and California 1998-2019. John’s international expertise includes river bank stabilization using local willows and rocks.
John and Christine started an alpaca farm in 2000 in Sandy Oregon. They brought their alpaca herd to a farm in Cave Junction in 2006-07. Their demonstration farm proved that modern Americans can recreate the foundation of a local economy with alpaca providing food, fiber and medicine, using traditional practices; no poisons needed.
John served on the Cave Junction City Council 2012-2016, and on many nonprofit boards including Cave Junction Farmers Market, IV Chamber of Commerce, I.V. Wellness Resources, Rusk Ranch Nature Center, CJ Homeless Alliance, I.V. Soil and Water Conservation District, the I.V. Sierra Club and Water League.
A Memorial Service and potluck celebration will be held on Sunday, Aug. 4 from 5-8 p.m. at the CJ Farmers Market site. All are welcome to attend. For more information please call Alisa Ocean, CJ Farmers Market Manager 458-229-2067.