JOHN and KAY GARTNER P’82 ’84 ’88 GP’08 ’10

“Education is really important in my family; my grandfather instilled it in us,” said Kay Gartner. “He said it’s something no one can take away from you.”

The Gartner family has been choosing a Peddie education for decades — and it’s a  choice that includes both their immediate and extended family. “There’s a grand total of 14 of us that have come through,” said Mark Gartner ’84. 

A vote of confidence times 14? That’s something special … and so is the unrestricted gift from John’s estate that the couple designated to Peddie. Unrestricted gifts show enormous trust, allowing Peddie to allocate funds to its greatest need.

“We come from a long line of educators,” said Catherine Gartner Holmes ’88. Her grandfather taught at Lawrenceville for 41 years, Kay is a retired kindergarten teacher, Mark is a math teacher at Peddie and his sons — Nate ’08 and Halley ’10 — both teach at boarding schools. 

“Mom said Peddie allowed us to grow up into the people that we are,” Mark said. “It was a great educational foundation for whatever it was that we were going to do next.” 

His siblings remember Peddie as a way of life.

“We used to live over there. Saturdays, you were at Peddie watching a track meet, a football game,” said Catherine. 

Her brother, John Gartner ’82, added, “My father actually worked the home track meets. He set up a table, and when results would come in, he would tabulate them all and score each event.” 

“We liked Peddie because it was small and it was very family-oriented. We felt at home,” said Kay. “We just loved it. We didn’t want to send our children somewhere else; we wanted to send them there. So we did. And then we were grateful.

“I have great faith in Peddie.”