Barbara Jo Gerhardt Ward died at 6:44 am on Saturday, October 10, 2020. She was born in St. Louis, Missouri on March 14, 1957. She grew up in a large family with four siblings. She earned an associate’s degree in business from St. Louis Community College, and began her 40-year career in the insurance industry. She moved to South Carolina in 1985, was married for five years, and gave birth to her son, Shane Ward, in 1987. She was a giving, kind, sweet person who loved to bake cakes and other treats to share with other people. A remarkably talented seamstress, she sewed her own clothing, including intricate business outfits, for many years, loved to create beautiful scrapbooks for family members and friends, and became a talented wreath maker. She won Best in Show at the South Carolina State Fair several times for her crafts and cakes. She enjoyed many wonderful vacations and holidays, including an extended trip to France, with her family, despite suffering from many health problems.
She was cured of stage four acute lymphoma in 1992, but the aggressive radiation treatments caused many health issues down the road, including scar tissue on her heart. Over the years, she survived open heart surgery and many other smaller surgeries and procedures. In the past five years, she suffered acutely from congested heart failure, which affected her ability to breathe.
She is preceded in death by her father, Ernest Charles Gerhardt, and her mother, Margaret Bonnie Belli, both of St. Louis. She is survived by her loving son, Shane Ward, siblings Deborah Montague, Jonathan Gerhardt, Pamela Gerhardt and Joseph Gerhardt, nephews Robert Montague Jr. and Joseph Porter, nieces Claudia Porter and Callie Gerhardt-Perry, great nephew Liam Chacon Gerhardt, and great nieces Lilly and Launa Perry.
A funeral service will be held at Dunbar Funeral Home – Dutch Fork Chapel, Wednesday October 14, 2020 at 11:00 am, 7600 Woodrow Street, Irmo SC, 29063.
Memories may be shared at www.dunbarfunerals.com
COMPARTA UN OBITUARIO
v.1.9.5