The Gardner Family

“His Birthday Is an Occasion to Celebrate, Not to Mourn”

Jeffrey Gardner, 36, died Sept. 11, 2001 in the World Trade Center, where he worked as an environmental insurance broker for Marsh & McLennan on the North Tower’s 99th floor.

After Gardner’s death, his family—sister Amy Kassan, brother Eric Gardner, and parents Eileen and David Gardner—knew that they didn’t have to look far to find a suitable memorial to their “exuberant” son and brother. Gardner had been a dedicated Habitat for Humanity volunteer, volunteering both locally, in Newark, and also internationally.
Signing a group of family and friends up to do a memorial build day with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Newark for Jeff’s birthday in 2002, his sister Amy Kassan said, was an easy decision. “It was supposed to be a one-year thing, but the experience was so positive that we just continued volunteering.”

2019 marks the Gardner family’s seventeenth year of gathering for a build day in memory of their son and brother. “We had the same crew going year after year—with Mr. Willie as our foreman. Our friends now bring their kids, and children of our volunteers are now volunteering in Jeff’s memory as well. My brother would have loved that.”

Kassan and her brother, Eric Gardner, and other participants in the build became regular Habitat for Humanity of Greater Newark donors. When the siblings’ parents, Eileen and David Gardner, decided to sell the family home in 2006, the family donated a portion of the proceeds to Habitat for the purpose of building a home in their brother’s memory.

In 2018, the Gardner family took a year off, and was considering whether to wind the tradition of build days down. But then, Kassan says, “Rabbi Faith Joy Dantowitz [formerly of their family’s synagogue, Congregation B’nai Jeshurun] told us Habitat of Greater Newark was building in Livingston. Livingston’s our hometown! Eric said, ‘We have to come back.’”

“Growing up on Amelia Avenue in Livingston was great. We grew up on a close-knit block. We played on the streets every day. It’s great coming back to do a build in Livingston. It’s like a little reunion.”
She continues, “Doing these build days with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Newark makes Jeff’s birthday a great experience. We could just sit back and be depressed when his birthday comes around every year, but instead we look forward to it. It’s a gift he gave to us.”

Photos from the Gardner family’s memorial build days for Jeffrey Gardner. LEFT: Amy Kassan says that her brother Jeffrey Gardner would have loved that the children of the original memorial build volunteers are now volunteering themselves in his memory. CENTER and RIGHT: Group photos, showing the shirts for the Gardner memorial build, which always read “Shine on JBG.” Sister Amy Kassan says, “It’s our motto in remembrance of Jeff. He had a tattoo of the sun and had a very positive outlook on life.”

Interested in volunteering with your group and making an important contribution to Habitat’s mission to build homes in partnership with families in need? Our calendar has year-round opportunities for your group to support Habitat of Greater Newark’s work, while also providing valuable team building and community engagement experiences for you and your team. Learn more about group volunteering.