Growing up, my mother, Carolyn Ward, was my protector, my teacher, my role model, my biggest fan….my world. And that never changed. I was truly blessed to have had her as a mother and I am thankful for every moment that we spent together.
I was profoundly blessed to have had such an amazing role model growing up, and to have such an amazing role model for my son and daughter. My mother spent many years of her life working in various roles that focused on the betterment of the communities in which she lived, as a teacher, working at and serving as president of The Junior League of Morristown, serving on the board of a homeless shelter in Morristown, New Jersey, as the Executive Director of the Arts Council of the Morris Area, helping to start First Night Morris County, serving on the Williamsburg Symphony Orchestra board, and volunteering as a docent and garden guide at Colonial Williamsburg, to name just a few. The many different challenges she took on during her career always seemed to land her in leadership roles. Her wisdom and demeanor made her a natural fit in those roles. All the while, being an ever-present mother and providing my father, my sister and I with a Norman Rockwellesque homelife.
Despite all of her amazing work, my mother was there for every moment of my life, both the mundane and the momentous, as a loving, supportive mother. My memories of her are filled with laughter, love, amazing holiday gatherings and meals, enriching experiences, and warm hugs that make any problem vanish in an instant. Many of my fondest memories of my mother growing up were of the time we spent together each summer at our family cottage on Lake Erie …. taking trips to the local candy store, eating fresh picked corn on the cob, spending time on the beach, playing croquet, working on puzzles, and just talking and spending time together. My mother was a great source of information for me in everything from gardening, to birding, to cooking, to travel, to history, to social protocol, etc., etc., which will be sorely missed. While reviewing photographs for a slideshow of my mother throughout her life, my wife commented that my decorating style is essentially just a carbon copy of my mother’s decorating style.
My mother’s lifelong love and commitment to her high school sweetheart, my father, David, was a blessing and an inspiration to me. Their devotion to one another was self-evident throughout their 54 years of marriage, and beyond. Together they travelled the world with family and friends sharing experiences that will never be forgotten. I have many, many pictures of them documenting all of the adventures that they went on together, and it is heartwarming to see how happy they both looked.
Over the past few years, my mother’s health had limited the number of activities that she could partake in. However, within that unfortunate situation, we were able to instead spend more time simply sharing our daily lives with each other …. albeit remotely. During that time, my wife, my daughter, and I were blessed to have had a videocall with my mother each evening when we could fill her in on all of our activities and experiences that day. My mother was able to watch her granddaughter grow and play, and we were able to interact with my mother to a degree that would not likely have happened under different circumstances. With those calls and our visits to see her, I am grateful that my mother and my daughter were able to get to know each other and develop a bond that is very precious. As my mother would say at the end of our calls … “see you later, alligator” … and, as Annamarie would respond … “after a while, crocodile.”
I have been incredibly comforted by the loving support of all of the friends and family around me that knew my mother and what a wonderful, loving person she was. For that, I am very grateful. I imagine that every person that met her instantly realized what a caring, sweet, welcoming person she was just from her smile and effortless grace. She was a truly beautiful person.
I love you, Mom.

Christopher David Ward

We encourage you to join us for a celebration of Carolyn Ward's life on Saturday, October 9th at 11AM at Williamsburg United Methodist Church; however, if you are unable to attend the celebration in person, please join us via livestream at https://www.williamsburgumc.org/worship/livestream-services.