That was the affectionate moniker Bae Gardner gave to the more than 2,000 University of Utah students who were placed in political internships through the school's Hinckley Institute of Politics.

Gardner, an institution in the U.'s political science department who served the Hinckley Institute as secretary and assistant director for 22 years, died Tuesday at her home in Salt Lake City from a stroke. She was 81.

"I first walked in the door of the Hinckley Institute in the fall of 1988. It immediately felt like a second home and the main reason was Bae," said Hinckley director Kirk Jowers. "I am proudly one of Bae's kids.

"Unless you share that distinction, it is impossible to fully convey the loss we feel today with Bae's passing," he said. "Bae was not just an administrator to her kids. She was a mother, friend, cheerleader, mentor and confidante."

Gardner began her career at the Hinckley Institute in 1968, working in a small office in Orson Spencer Hall with the institute's first director, J.D. Williams. She would continue working with the students there through two more directors, R.J. Snow and Ted Wilson. She retired in 1990.

Born March 10, 1926, in Hinckley, Utah, to Van Dyne Jones and Bennett J. Bishop, she married M. Kelly Gardner Dec. 7, 1945, in Salt Lake City. She is survived by her husband, children Alan, Dawn and Anne, seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

The funeral will be Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Foothill LDS 7th Ward, 2215 E. Roosevelt Ave., where friends may call two hours before the service. In lieu of flowers, the family is suggesting donations to the Bae B. Gardner Internship in Public Policy Scholarship Fund administered by the Hinckley Institute.

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