William Henry Garner was born 30 November 1873 the second child of William Franklin and Mary Ann Barker Garner. He was born in Ogden but the family later moved to Clifton, Idaho where he grew to manhood.

He met Mary Emma Tolman and on 13 November 1895 they were married in the Logan Temple. They made the trip by horse and buggy, and the ground was white with snow. They lived in Clifton, Oneida County, Idaho where six of their children were born. Here Mary Emma was President of the YWMIA. When their first child was a baby, William Henry was called don a mission to the Northern States 12 April 1897. He was called again into the mission field 16 April 1907 to the Central States. About 1910 they moved to Preston where two more children were born to them. Here sorrow came into the family when they lost a six months old boy, Lyman, 14 February 1913. Their next child was born 16 November 1913 in College Ward. They then moved to Deweyville, Utah where Elden Spencer was born. They moved next to Perry where Dorothy, the last child was born 1 July 1922.

While in Perry, William Henry was Superintendent of the Sunday School and Emma was in the Relief Society and they were happy in their church work. William, thinking he needed a larger place for the boys decided to move again. He bought in Crescent, south of Salt Lake in 1925 where Meda was married, this place, not being satisfactory; they traded for one in South Jordan in 1926, where Aldro met his wife. They then moved to Murray in 1927 and to Butlerville in 1928 where Judson was married. The next move was to Harrisville about 1929 and to Ogden in 1930. They made several moves in North Ogden before they finally settled.

Mary Emma worked here in the Relief Society. She was indeed a hard worker. When her newborn babies were only a few days old she would be back out in the yard working in the strawberries and keeping down the weeds in the garden and flowers. From 1932 to 1940 Mary Emma went many times to the temple to perform work for the dead. She was a wonderful mother.
Her health began getting poor as the years went by. She died 14 August 1944 and was buried in the North Ogden Cemetery. On 2 December 1950 William Henry Garner wrote the following lines in memory of his wife Emma as his thoughts went back to the day when they were married 55 years previous to that time.
In Memory Of Mother
As we walked up the hill to the temple
My heart was filled with pride,
For I loved this lovely maiden
Who was now to become my bride,
Fifty-five years ago we were married,
The time seems so long ago.
We were married in the Logan Temple
Outside, the ground white with snow.
Long years have passed
Since that happy day
We loved each other as lovers may
Now I am living in the sunset of day.
She was a loving wife
So faithful and true
And a loving Mother
Her whole life through
Sometimes we had sorrow,
Sometimes we had pain.
But, by working together
We did may blessings gain.
As we traveled life's highway together
Your mother was always the same,
We traveled through good and bad weather
Never once did I hear her complain.
She was true to her faith
She was true to her God,
She was true to her friends
As life's pathway was trod.
So now as you travel
Through the Journey of Life,
Remember you children
Were the pride of her life.
Soon after his wife's death, William Henry left for a mission to the Southern States. While on his mission he followed in the footsteps of his father by baptizing Robert Vance Wright of North Wilkesboro, North Carolina whom his father had preached the gospel to sixty-two years before. He returned home from his mission in time to see his last child married, 14 December 1945. On 11 November 1946 he performed a short-term mission to the California field of labor.
He has had the unique experience of receiving mission calls and serving under four presidents of the church, Wilford Woodruff, Joseph Fielding Smith, Heber J. Grant, and George Albert Smith.