Dr. Janet Gardiner is primarily remembered as one of the province’s most influential business leaders.

But those close to her also knew her as a brilliant needleworker.

And this more private craft may provide the most fitting metaphor for someone who so skillfully and unselfishly wove her intelligence and talents into the fabric of her community.

Dr. Gardiner was born in St. John’s in 1933. She earned her bachelor of commerce from Dalhousie in 1954 and went on to become the first female chartered accountant in Newfoundland and Labrador in 1956.

Her accomplishments in the world of business are notable for the prominent roles she played in an array of industries and in the importance of these industries to the provincial economy. Over the course of her career, Dr. Gardiner was the director and treasurer of Chester Dawe Limited and Associated Companies.

She also acted as director on the boards of the Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro Corporation, the Canada/Newfoundland Offshore Petroleum Board and Fishery Products International.

 

Janet Gardiner received an honorary doctor of laws degree from Memorial University in May 1998. Photo from Memorial University Archives.

 

While Dr. Gardiner achieved success in her personal career, she blended her vast professional experience and knowledge with her dedication to the wider community.

As a volunteer, she acted as treasurer for the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra and the St. John’s Board of Trade.

She served on committees for the Arts and Culture Centre and the St. John’s Heritage Foundation. And she chaired the St. Thomas’ Anglican Church finance committee and the Salvation Army Citizens Advisory Board.

Dr. Gardiner was the first honorary chair of the Tuckamore Music Festival. And for her unwavering support and her devotion to music and young musicians, the festival established the Janet C. Gardiner Memorial Fund. 

In 1991, after years on the advisory board for Memorial’s Faculty of Business Administration, Dr. Gardiner became the first female chair of the university’s Board of Regents.

During a time of fiscal restraint and government austerity, Dr. Gardiner provided the university with sound and trusted guidance. And although she gave all the credit to others, she also oversaw one of the most successful fundraising campaigns in the university’s history.

She remained chair until 1997.

Dr. Gardiner received an honorary degree from Memorial in 1998, and in 2009, she was named to the Order of Canada.

Years later, when another fundraising initiative was mounted in 2013, Dr. Gardiner once again rose to the occasion – this time making a generous contribution of her own.

Her donation was designated for renovations and the purchase of state-of-the-art equipment to create a dedicated accounting classroom at the business faculty.

Dr. Gardiner paid it forward through her entire professional career and beyond. She passed away in 2015.

She was a trailblazer for female entrepreneurs and a role model who taught us all that when the skills and knowledge that bring personal success are translated – through the spirit of volunteerism – into acts of kindness, the fabric of our community becomes both wider and stronger.