Cancer Takes Life of Local Husband, and His Widow Takes Ford Mustang on the Road to Awareness

Editor’s Note: The following story is from the Ford Racing Web site. It is Harrison County resident Mendi Gardner’s story. We encourage you to read part of it here and the remainder on the Ford Web site that is hyperlinke below.

By Mendi Gardner

Fordracing.com

Growing up in a no-nonsense family, a fun car was not an option.  I always loved the artistic nature of cars but, as a female, I wasn’t permitted in the garage. That was man territory. It wasn’t until college hat I bought my first “toy,” a 1971 VW Bug. What silliness! My family didn’t understand. After marrying a man who grew up in a similar family, we did the unthinkable. Steve Gardner and I bought a two-wheel drive, lowered truck. “That thing’s useless” we heard. Useless or not, it was the spark we needed to get involved in the car culture. As the Louisiana state representatives for the American Sport Truck Association, we attended many car shows and made lots of car fiends. However, it wasn’t until I bought my 2005 Mustang that our world totally changed.

I entered it in local car shows alongside our useless truck. We took it to the Carlisle Ford Nationals in Pennsylvania. The friendships we made with other Mustang owners were unlike any others. We called each other “Framily.” Soon the Mustang bug bit my husband, and he joined the Red Mustang Registry with his 2007 GT. A trip to a road known as the Tail of the Dragon woke part of our souls that was lying dormant. We felt so alive tearing through the curves. Steve and I were both hooked. Not being a fan of heat or humidity, I bucked when Steve suggested we go to Mustang Week in Myrtle Beach in the heat of July. But that’s where I fell in love with one of the two Mustang Week editions built that year. After three passengers received neck injuries, the car earned the name “Whiplash.”  

By this time, Steve and I had grown out of our four-car garage. We built our dream home, complete with an attached garage, a detached 2-story 4-stall garage and an automotive shop. Our Mustang Manor was born. Many of our Mustang friends used our shop to repair or modify their cars. We hosted detailing events, bringing in the country’s best ceramic coater. We hosted many Mustang cruises. Our big event was The Committed Cruise, a three-day weekend every Father’s Day. We cruised to different locations within West Virginia each year, always ending at the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum for a big car show and tours of the haunted asylum. Our Mustang “Framily” continued to grow.

A couple years later, “Vanilla Ice,” a white Fox Body convertible, joined the stable. Steve was always teased with the song “Ice Ice Baby” when we went to car events, so we just went with it on the car.

In 2017, just before we ran the roads of the Gatlinburg, Tennessee, area for five days, Steve saw his doctor for a bruise that would not go away on his chest. The diagnoses would shock all who knew him. It was breast cancer.