Vera Ward

Vera Ward, 92, passed away peacefully Sunday, March 24th, surrounded by family, after a brief stay at Holmes Hospital. She was pre-deceased just four months ago by her beloved husband of 70 years, Brian Ward. Vera was so proud of her family and was “Mum” to Keith, Alan and Janice, and beloved grandmother to Alex, Elizabeth, Kelly, Kiffin and Connor. She was beloved Auntie Vera to four nieces, Sharon, Nadia, Sonia and Tania.

Vera was born in 1931 in Hayes, Middlesex, England, about 20 miles from London. When WWII began in 1939, Vera’s Dad left to serve in the Royal Navy. When the bombing of London began, Vera recalled seeing the flames above London from her house. One bomb landed close enough to their house to blow out one of the windows. With her “Mam” and younger sister, Sheila, she evacuated out of London and went to live with grandparents in Sheffield. When the bombers eventually found Sheffield too, they all had to spend nights in the basement bomb shelter that they shared with their neighbors.

After the war, Vera’s Mam and Dad started taking the girls to modern ballroom dancing lessons and “Old Tyme” dances. Vera really excelled and loved it. At the dances, she preferred to dance with only the best dancers, dancing with Brian's cousin before Brian caught her attention. Together the two practiced until they started winning dance trophies. They continued dancing together for most of the 70+ years they were together.

Vera and Brian were married in 1953 and toured post-war Europe on Brian’s motorcycle with Vera and all their luggage crammed into the sidecar. After having Keith in 1958, they bought a newly built house in Langley, Buckinghamshire, with all “modern conveniences,” including a central coal fireplace, the only source of heat. In Langley, they added Alan and Janice to their family. In 1968, Brian, Vera, and their 3 young children emigrated to the United States with just what could fit in a few tea chests (literally, wooden chests made to ship tea from India to England). They sailed on Holland America‘s SS Statendam from Southampton, England, past the Statue of Liberty to the dock in New York Harbor. Within months they settled in North Kingstown, Rhode Island where they lived and raised their family for almost 30 years. By the time they retired the 5 grandkids had been added to the family.

She was first and foremost a wonderful mother, homemaker, and gardener, becoming a bookkeeper and receptionist (with the classiest accent ever). Only later when we all got older, we all agree that Vera was the best Mum in the world, immersing herself completely in her children's lives. She served as cub scout “den mother,” as a volunteer and badge helper for brownies and girl scouts, as a “band parent” for countless years, and she was the perfect hostess of oh so many holiday gatherings, barbecues, parties, weddings, and baby showers. All of her kids' childhood friends STILL talk about these parties and her trifle to this day.

After becoming empty nesters, Vera and Brian retired and moved to Florida in 1997, building a beautiful home with a beautiful garden in Viera, Melbourne, where they lived for twenty years. All the grandkids loved visiting Florida where Grandma and Grandad took them to Walt Disney World and Universal, to look for manatees and dolphins in the lagoons, to the beach, Grills, and the Brevard zoo. Vera made every houseguest feel welcome, making home cooked meals for everyone who visited. So many great, happy memories from those wonderful visits. In between family visits, Vera joined and later served on the board of the Martin Anderson Senior Center in Cocoa. She joined classes in Senior Fitness and line dancing and made many new friends. She enjoyed it so much that she took over teaching the line-dance classes and continued for years, only giving it up when she was in her 80s.

Only in the last few years did Vera and Brian downsize and move into a retirement community, first to Lamplighter Village, Melbourne, where Vera enjoyed community parties, Bunco and line dancing and, as always, was quick to make many new friends. About 10 years ago, Janice and then Keith moved to the Melbourne area to be near Mum and Dad. In late 2021 Vera and Brian moved to Century Oaks assisted living where they had a pretty little apartment and could get meals, cleaning and laundry service, rides to appointments and other assistance. With Mum’s upbeat attitude and constant smile, she was a favorite of residents and staff, and could often be found attending musical events and spending many hours working with her puzzle buddies. The most recent puzzle, completed just weeks ago, was an extremely challenging 3-dimensional puzzle of Big Ben and the houses of parliament!

Just a few months ago, on October 24, 2023, Vera and Brian celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary. That weekend almost 60 family and friends from Vera and Brian's long life together gathered and gave them an epic celebration where we all got to watch them basking in the love, grinning from ear to ear all afternoon. We are all so very thankful to have had that last grand celebration together, so recently. Vera was still smiling and talking about the celebration and all the family and friends who came from all over.

Thankfully, Vera was still so enthusiastic, sharp and organized until the very end: still writing her to do lists and dispensing sage advice to her children and grandchildren who all adored her. We had hoped this meant she would be with us for many more years. Our time with her was so precious. She is so loved, and will be so incredibly missed, by all of us, her children, grandchildren, nieces and so many friends.

For donations and flowers; please consider a donation in Vera's honor to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation or using a local florist, Carousel Florist 321-456-9988 OR Violets in Bloom 321-242-3360. Follow the links below.

A gathering of family and friends will be held Saturday, April 6, 2024 at 2:30 PM at The Life Event Center at Florida Memorial followed by a Celebration of Life at 3:30 PM, 5950 South US Highway 1, Rockledge, Florida.