After discharge, Ken reentered NMSTC where he again made All-Conference in 1946 and completed his education with a Bachelor of Science in Education in 1947.  For the next four years, 1947-51, he was Head Football Coach at Marceline High School and in ’51 returned to his alma mater as an instructor in physical education and Assistant Football Coach.  He also returned to the classroom as a student and earned his Master of Arts in 1952.  He was named Head Track Coach in ‘52 and over the next 30 years led the Northeast Bulldogs to 19 indoor and 15 outdoor conference track championships.  He also held the posts of assistant football and assistant basketball coach during those years and in 1974 was named Athletic Director. He remained in this position until he retired in 1988. 

Gardner was in the first class of inductees into the NMSU Athletics Hall of Fame when it was instituted in 1983 and in his position as Athletic Director, was Chair of the selection committee from then until his retirement.  The old track at Stokes Stadium was replaced with a new 8-lane all-weather track in 1996 and was named the Kenneth L Gardner Track in his honor.  He was honored by his coaching peers in 1974 when he was named Coach of the Year by the Missouri Track & Cross Country Coaches Association and in 1984 when he was inducted into the organization’s Hall of Fame.  

Ken and Ethelyn Lamar married May 26, 1946 in Warsaw, IL.  They had two children, a daughter Barbara Lynn Gardner who died in infancy and a son Richard Dean Brownlee.  Ken died in a Columbia, MO hospital February 8, 1992 and was buried at Maple Hills in Kirksville.