Willie Bell Ward

Mrs. Willie Bell Ward was born Willie Bell Marrion on Sept. 7, 1924, by her official records. But if you ever spoke to her, she would tell you she was born in 1925 to Mr. Antwine Marrion and Ms. Sarah Mazique in Natchez, Missisippi. She was born an only girl to a father who wanted a boy, so he named her Willie Bell. Willie Bell grew up in Natchez, MS listening to Big Band music during WWII, spending time with friends going to the movies on Saturday afternoons. She lived in Natchez until her graduation from Brumfield High School and all black school not far from her home on State Street.

Willie went on to attend a year of nursing college in Memphis, TN at Meharry Medical School. But the lure of a better life in California brought her to San Francisco, California at the invitation of her Uncle Sonny Mazique in 1946. She stayed few months before moving on to San Jose, CA where she became a postal worker, a house keeper and she worked in a cannery while she was completing her nursing studies at San Jose Junior College. She earned a Licensed Vocational Nursing degree in 1954. She married twice, once in circa 1946 and a second time to Mr. Henry Ward in 1957. They were happily married for 42 years until Henry died in 1999. They raised 5 children, had many grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Henry and Willie decided to move from San Jose in 1957 to Milpitas, CA. Mr. Ward was a barber for many years and Willie started working at a county hospital as a nurse, joining San Jose Valley Medical Center in 1956 as an Operating Room nurse. She worked for 35 years, helping doctors and other nurses save hundreds of lives during surgeries of all sorts. She loved her work and her colleagues loved working with her. Willie was voted LVN of the year in 1991, the year she retired from the VMC. Willie was fond of family, cooking, reading the bible, and roses. She was a loving mother, a great friend and a wonderful neighbor. She is known for baking pound cakes for the people she loved at work and in our neighborhood. She never missed an opportunity to be loving, caring and thoughtful to everyone she knew. She lived a long happy life, and resided in Milpitas for 55 years before passing away on June 17th, 2020, unexpectantly a few days after a fall at home.

She is survived by 4 children: Anthony Ward of South Carolina, born in 1948, Roger Ward of Florida born in 1950, Francine Ward of Milpitas, born in 1959 and twin Donald Ward of Milpitas born in 1960. Ronald, the oldest of her twins, passed away in 2002.

In lieu of flowers, The Ward Family would like donations in Willie Bell’s name to Black Lives Matter, The NAACP Legal Defense Fund, or the University of California Davis Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center.