His parents nurtured Les’ appreciation of traveling. After high school graduation, Les and several friends traveled through Europe by bicycle. Then he joined the rest of his family to travel further in Europe and the Middle East. During the Summer of 1964, Les and his brother, David, remained in Isreal at the archaeological site of the Masada as diggers.

Les was intrigued by photography and audiovisual production early in his life. This led to one of his first jobs with TRAV (Television, Radio and Audiovisual) services at the Presbyterian Center then located on Ponce de Leon in Atlanta.  Through his years as an educator, he introduced photography, print making, and film production for students to engage them in learning and support their creativity. Between 1970 and 1972, Les’ earliest efforts at innovative education resulted in Riverwood School, which was housed in a log cabin located in south Dekalb County.

During the mid-1970s, Les lived on and sailed his sailboat between Florida and the Bahama Islands. Deciding that he wanted to accomplish more with his life, he returned to the mainland.  In 1974, he moved to Farmington, New Mexico to be a science teacher and then the principal at the Navajo Mission School. It was there that he first met Lorraine Wilson, who had been employed as a curriculum advisor.  Three years later, Lorraine and Les moved to Atlanta to put their educational experiences and shared ideals to work in the founding of Horizons School in 1978. They worked tirelessly to create an educational environment that nurtured the joy of learning, the conquest of challenges, the pursuit of collaboration, and the embrace of the diversity of our world.

Les liked nothing better than starting a new project. His optimism and love of new adventures lead him in many directions. Building everything from the facilities at Horizons School to furniture, intricate boxes, and carved figures was a challenge and joy for him. He was immensely proud of the Horizons students who participated in the building and renovation projects. He liked to create scavenger hunts, puzzles, and games to facilitate friendship-building as well as learning.

Les loved to explore caves, swim, snorkel, scuba dive, and most of all sail. Les was delighted to plan field trips for students that incorporated swimming with manatees, spelunking, camping in the north Georgia mountains, and rock hunting that expanded the definition of geology to include Rocky Road ice cream.  Horizons School trips to Savannah, GA, Yellowstone National Park, Mexico, and Costa Rica were special memories and sources of stories.

His curiosity and energy took him in many directions. He became a Coast Guard Captain, and a licensed small aircraft pilot. He thrived on making wine, hard cider, and beer as well as rum raisin ice cream and Mexican-style fresh cheese pie. He was fascinated by animals and the positive responses they nurtured in people. This led to chickens, ducks, llamas, and other livestock at Horizons as well as dogs, ferrets and parrots in his home.  He approached gardening with eternal optimism each spring. He planted a kiwi vine that tried to consume his house along with peach, persimmon, and pomegranate trees which eventually produced fruit.

This quote from his mother’s letter to a family member on June 4, 1947, turned out to be prophetic:

“Les is walking everywhere and always into something. I thought he’d learned ‘No, no’ about almost everything but every day he gets into something else I never dreamed of. He adores the outdoors, rocks, sticks, flowers, leaves, etc. Chasing him, I’ve been places I’ve never been before. He likes everything he’s ever been given to eat. He is very friendly and thoroughly enjoys everyone.”

Les is survived by his wife of 42 years, June Bridgford Garber; his brothers, David White Garber and John Carter Garber; his niece, Leslie Michelle Garber; and his nephew, Jonathan David Garber.

Please consider joining Les’s loved ones at a Celebration of Life gathering:

In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that memorial donations be made to The Community Corps.