Mary (Polly) Gardner Herzer, a retired science laboratory manager and Masters athlete, died April 4, 2001 in Sun City, AZ. She was 80. Mrs. Herzer was born in Watertown, NY, in 1920, the daughter of Dr. Murray M. Gardner and Margaret Ogden. She attended Emma Willard and Finch Jr. College, also studying art and French at the Sorbonne in Paris.

Her first husband, Lt. John A. Shanklin III, of Charleston, WV, was killed in action in Germany during WWII. During the war, Mrs. Herzer logged over 1,000 hours as a Red Cross nurse's aide, working at hospitals in Watertown, NY and the Army hospital at White Sulphur Springs, WV.

In 1949, she married Richard Pearce Herzer in the First Presbyterian Church in Watertown, NY, later moving to Long Island where her husband began a 28-year career as a physics teacher. As the couple raised their four children, Mrs. Herzer managed the science laboratory at Syosset High School.

As the demands of her children's' after-school activities escalated, she found part-time work as the library-media coordinator at Willets Elementary School in Syosset.

After retiring to Sun City, AZ City in 1979 the couple devoted themselves to a shared interest in sports. Mrs. Herzer had won several tennis championships while living in Watertown, NY, and in retirement she applied her athletic skills to swimming and track & field events. She won numerous medals in the javelin, discus, and shot-put at the Senior Olympics and TAC competitions, as well as state and national Masters swimming invitationals. Mrs. Herzer currently holds Arizona state records in the 50 and 100 meter breaststroke and is listed in the United States Masters Swimming "Top Ten" for her Long Course records in the 50 and 100 Breaststroke in the 75-79 category. In her spare time, she enjoyed working on family history with the Sun City Computer Genealogy Club and West Valley Genealogical Society.

Mrs. Herzer is survived by her three sons, Richard P., Jr. of Glastonbury, CT; Karl M. of Melville, NY; and Brian G. of NYC, NY; a daughter, Helen R. of Boston, MA; a brother, Dr. Murray H. Gardner of Watertown, NY; a step-brother, John M. Gardner of Davis, CA; and six grandchildren. Burial will be at a later date in Cranberry Lake, NY.

Memorials may be sent to Sun Health Hospice, 12740 N. Plaza del Rio Blvd., Peoria, AZ, 85381.