Notable New Orleanians: A Tricentennial Tribute

GARDNER
REALTORS
Top: "It all simmers down to love. Love of
people, love of your business, love of your
family, you know, just love,"- Gertrude
Gardner, Founder.
Below: From left to right: President Glenn
Gardner; Vice President of Corporate
Services Sharon Gardner; Vice President of
Marketing & Public Relations Crystal
Gardner-Phillips; Vice President of
Operations Chip Gardner.
A notable year in history was 1943. The tide
was beginning to turn in World War II, the worst
of the Great Depression had begun to pass, and
many women had begun to enter the workforce.
Gertrude Gardner envisioned the coming need
for housing as the war was winding down and
decided to start her own real estate company.
Right from the start, she had some innovative
ideas that marked her as ahead of her time.
She located her office in a residential neighborhood
instead of the downtown business district.
She reached out to a core of talented
friends and family–creating early success. This
was further enhanced when Gertrude’s husband,
Warren, a former banker, brought his
financial expertise to the growing firm. Their
only son, Glenn, added his creative vision and
was promoted to president shortly before his
untimely death at the age of thirty-nine.
Always independent and willing to take a
risk, Gertrude grounded her business on the
Golden Rule, eventually becoming the first
woman to found a citywide real estate firm.
Her vision and her drive culminated over seventy-five
years later in the fourth generation
company that bears her name. From that original
Uptown office on Maple Street, Gertrude
Gardner Realtors–now known as Gardner
Realtors–has grown to 24 locations, more than
800 sales associates and 70 staff members.
Gertrude’s story is one of many “firsts.” She
was the first female president of what is now
the New Orleans Metropolitan Association of
Realtors, Realtor of the Year in 1977, and
affectionately known as the “Grande Dame” of
Real Estate, she has long been remembered as
a mentor and inspiration to other women.
In 1979, Gertrude appointed as president
her grandson, Glenn M. Gardner, Jr. who kept
growing the regional company while Gertrude
continued to inspire the Gardner team as
Chairman of the Board, until her death in
1998, at the age of ninety-six.
At her passing in 1998, Gertrude had successfully
laid the foundation, which would
keep the firm among the top one percent of
real estate companies worldwide. But most
central to the ongoing strength of Gardner
Realtors has been the dedication and commitment
of her succeeding family members.
It is an arrangement that has sustained the
firm’s success as the core principles and foundations
of the third generation have been kept
cutting-edge by technological and social
media savvy of the fourth.
Though times have changed, the core
principles of Gardner Realtors have remained
constant–a commitment to excelent service
guided by adherence to the Golden Rule–best
exemplified by the firm’s support of important
community endeavors, particularly its work
with the New Orleans Mission to help end
homelessness in the area.
NOTABLE NEW ORLEANIANS: A Tricentennial Tribute
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