John F. Ward

John F. Ward, 86, of Springfield, died at 5:45 p.m. Sunday, December 14, 2003 at Memorial Medical Center. John was born April 28, 1917 in Springfield the son of Louis and Anna Ryan Ward. He married Rosemary Denise Quinn April 22, 1950 at St. Basil’s Church in Chicago; she preceded him in death January 14, 2003. Mr. Ward was employed for 25 years for the Pullman Company and later worked for Amtrak, retiring from there after 13 years. He was a U.S. Army veteran serving with the 164th Infantry in the South Pacific including Guadalcanal and Bougainville during WWII. He received a good conduct ribbon, American Defense Service Ribbon, Asiatic Pacific Theatre Ribbon with two bronze battle stars and five overseas service bars. He was a member of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and a member of Veterans of Foreign War (VFW) Post #10302. He was a life-long Cubs fan and an Irishman of great wit and will be greatly missed by all. He was also preceded in death by his parents and a sister, Bettie Ward, who died in 2000. He is survived by five sons, John (wife, Mary), of Joliet; Michael of Springfield, Thomas, Patrick and David (wife, Meg) all of Chicago; two daughters, Mary (husband, Tom) Call of Maple Grove, MN and Denise (husband, John) Bohn of Chicago; five grandchildren: Emily (husband, David) Cory and Tom, Kevin and Megan Call of MN and Katie Bohn of Chicago, and many nieces and nephews. Friends may call at Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception from 10 – 11:00 a.m. Friday, December 19, 2003. Funeral Mass will be at 11:00 a.m. Friday, December 19, 2003 at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception with Rev. Msgr. John R. Ossola celebrant. Burial will follow at Camp Butler National Cemetery where the Interveterans Burial Detail of Sangamon County will conduct military honors. Memorial contributions may be made to Neurobiological Solutions, 1726 Franceschi Road, Santa Barbara, CA 93103. The family of John F. Ward is being served by Kirlin-Egan and Butler Funeral Home 900 S. 6th St., Springfield.