McDonnell's father-in-law dies; governor cancels weekend events

Gov. Bob McDonnell's father-in-law, Frank Gardner, died late Saturday night at his home at the Greenspring retirement community in Springfield. The governor canceled his weekend events, including a bill signing in Crozet.

Gardner, 87, was a somewhat regular fixture on the campaign trail last year. He was known to tell stories to supporters (and reporters) and even break out in Spanish at Hispanic-oriented events.

The lifelong Northern Virginian worked as an FBI agent and a foreign service officer after serving in the Marines during World War II. (Records indicate he is one of the few remaining Marine survivors of the battles of Saipan, Iwo Jima and Okinawa.)

His wife, Geraldine, died in June 2009. The couple had nine children, including the governor's wife, Maureen McDonnell.

Virginia's first lady loves to tell the story of how her father, an avid Redskins fan, convinced her to try out for the Redskinettes because he wanted the free football tickets that came with the job.