Ailene was promoted to Glory on February 19, 2020 from Pruitt Healthcare Hospice. She was born in Wilson County, NC on September 24, 1930 to the late Eva Flowers Davis and Romer Jamerson Davis. Funeral services will be held at 1:00pm on February 29, 2020 at The Salvation Army Chapel, 1000 Hunter Hill Rd., Rocky Mount, NC with a committal service to follow at Maplewood Cemetery, Wilson, NC. The family will receive friends from 12:00pm until 1:00pm prior to the service. She was married to Ernest B. Gardner Sr. in 1949 and in 1960 they dedicated their lives to fulltime ministry with the Salvation Army as officers and ordained ministers. They served the Salvation Army in Greensboro (Outpost), NC, Washington, NC, Spartanburg, SC, Statesville, NC, Charlotte (Belmont), NC, Henderson, NC, and New Bern, NC; where Ernest was promoted to Glory in 1978. Ailene, as a widow, moved back to Wilson, NC and served in many volunteer areas for The Salvation Army in Wilson and Charlotte, NC. She helped with the Christmas program and serving as a housemother to Asbury College students, who volunteered with the Salvation Army bell ringing Christmas program. Later in 1988, Ailene remarried Linwood Perry of Sims, NC. Ailene was preceded in death by her parents, both spouses, Captain Ernest Gardner Sr., and Linwood M. Perry; her daughter, Cathy Gardner Greenway, five sisters, and one brother. She is survived by her sons, Ernest "Robin" Gardner Jr. (Mary), and Gary T. Gardner (Patty), grandchildren, Eric K. Sayne (Lisa), Rachel Gardner Tarlton (Jason), Lauren Gardner Burnette (Michael), and Jared Adam Gardner (Tabitha), eight great-grandchildren, and one great-great-granddaughter. Memorials may be made to The Salvation Army, Rocky Mount, NC. Online condolences may be made at www.hollandfuneralservice.com