ORANGEBURG, SC – Funeral services for Alexander "Bubbason" Gardner, Jr., a standout football player at South Carolina State during his college days (1955-59), and an SCSU Hall of Fame inductee, will be held Friday (Jun. 24) at 11 a.m. at Mount Pisgah Baptist Church, 310 Green Street. Interment will follow in Belleville Memorial Gardens.

The body will be placed in the church one hour prior to the service. Visitation is from 12 noon to 8 p.m. Thursday, Jun. 23 at Simmons Funeral Home, which is in charge of arrangements. Rev. Gregory A. Young will officiate at Friday's service.
 
Gardner, a lifelong Orangeburg resident and a retired Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College counselor, died Saturday, Jun. 18, at his residence after an extended illness. He was 80.
 
Gardner excelled in football and track and field at Wilkinson High School before enrolling at SC State in 1955, where he twice earned All-SIAC (Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) honors as a Bulldog running back and also ran track. He was one of the team's top rushers in both 1957 and 1958 when he was named to the All-SIAC squad. He was also nominated as a Little All-American in football in 1958, and was a member of the SC State mile relay team that finished third in the event at the prestigious Penn Relays in Philadelphia.
 
Gardner, a member of  Class of '59 at SC State  was inducted into his alma mater's Athletics Hall of Fame in 1998 and was named to the university's Centennial (1907-2007) football team in 2007.
 
He is survived by his wife Sarah and four children -- Alexander III, Robbie, Vickie and Kim.
 
 
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