Verna Mae "Kitty" Gardner

In Loving Memory of Verna Mae “Kitty” Gardner

February 20, 1938 – October 5, 2025

A graveside service with inurnment for Verna Mae “Kitty” Gardner, age 87, of Copperas Cove, Texas, will be held at a later date. Kitty peacefully entered into eternal rest on October 5, 2025, at Sunny Springs Nursing Home, surrounded by her loving children and the grace of God.

Kitty was born on February 20, 1938, in Eugene, Oregon, to Fredrick H. and Elva Mae (Hood) Percell. On June 1, 1967, she married her belated husband, Ralph Allen Gardner, in El Paso, Texas. Together, they built a life filled with devotion, laughter, and steadfast love.

A dedicated and hardworking woman, Kitty served her community as an accountant with H & R Block for many years. She also devoted over five decades as a proud member of the American Legion Auxiliary, where she found deep purpose supporting veterans and their families. Her kindness, strength, and faith touched everyone who knew her.

Kitty’s legacy lives on through her loving family—daughters Cheryl Perez and husband Joseph, Shelly Heritage, and Rachel Abston; sons Eugene Lauffenberger and Damon “Doc” Gardner Sr. and wife Ginger. She was a proud grandmother to fifteen grandchildren, sixteen great-grandchildren, and two great-great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her beloved parents, her devoted husband Ralph, her son Clyde Abston, her grandson Joshua Allen Perez, her brothers Charles, Wyatt, Fredrick, Harold, Floyd, and Lloyd Percell, and her infant sister Justine Percell.

In honor of Kitty’s lifelong support for our nation’s heroes, the family kindly requests that, in lieu of flowers, memorial donations be made to any veterans’ organization of your choice.