TACOMA — The memorial service Saturday in Tacoma for former Washington Gov. Booth Gardner is open to the public.
The University of Puget Sound’s Memorial Fieldhouse opens at 10 a.m.
Organizers said the Rev. David Alger will officiate and Gov. Jay Inslee will present flags that were flown at half-staff on the state Capitol campus in Gardner’s honor. Former Gov. Chris Gregoire and U.S. Rep. Denny Heck, who both worked for Gardner, will speak.
The TVW public-affairs network will provide live coverage. He died March 15 at his Tacoma home from complications of Parkinson’s disease.
Gardner served two terms as governor. During his tenure, he pushed for standards-based education reform, issued an executive order banning discrimination against gay and lesbian state workers, banned smoking in state workplaces, and appointed the state’s first minority to the state Supreme Court. The state’s Basic Health Care program for the poor was launched in 1987 and was the first of its kind in the country.