A MESSAGE FROM THE FAMILY

I truly cannot imagine a more loving, selfless, supportive father than my father, David Ward. I have many happy memories of my father starting from when I was very young….the times we spend at the cottage on Lake Erie where he played guitar and sang songs for me and my cousins and where he would sneak out to scare us kids in the tent at night…..and the time he wrestled around on the floor with our new puppy Tippy when she first came home to meet him. Growing up he taught me many of the typical life lessons that every young man should learn…how to throw a ball, how to properly shake someone’s hand, the value of hard work and dedication, the joys of driving 20 MPH below the posted speed limit especially when you are in a rush to get somewhere (a.k.a. patience), and how to cultivate Sequoia trees in the eastern United States. He taught me many lessons that had an effect on every aspect of my life. Through his example, he taught me integrity…during his life he made various career/business decisions that were contrary to his own financial gain, but which were rooted in his deep sense of right and wrong, and I have always tried to emulate those sentiments and live up to his example. My father was the person that I went to if I had any problems, or needed any advice. He was our rock…..our source of guidance and wisdom, which will be sorely missed. He was unbelievably generous….he would have given you the shirt off his back if you were in need…..and good luck ever grabbing the check at a restaurant before he did (I believe he inherited that trait from his mother). I cannot think of a more humble, genuine person than my father. When I was a teenager, I believe I had one of the most fortuitous days of my life. I had recently taken up skiing, but I was too young to drive to any of the local ski areas. One weekend I managed to rope my father into driving me and a couple of friends on an hour and a half trip to the Poconos for a day trip to ski. If memory serves me, I believe my father began the day sitting in the ski lodge reading a book. But boredom and curiosity soon got the better of him, and, to my surprise, when I met back up with him later that day he had spent the rest of day learning to ski. My father had unusually large calf muscles, which no normal ski boot could fit, but, despite the pain caused by the boots, he took an immediate liking to skiing. In the years that followed, and with the eventual purchase of a custom fit pair of ski boots, my father and I ventured out for longer trips to various ski locations along the east coast, to Austria, and to various ski locations out west. Those trips and the countless hours spent riding and talking on chairlifts together blessed me with time with my father and memories of my father that I will always cherish. During the reception following the celebration of my father’s life on Friday, there will be a slideshow with pictures of my father throughout his life. In preparation for that slideshow, I went through the pictures on my father’s computer, which included numerous folders of pictures of the many trips that my parents took over the past decade or two. There was a folder for each trip with probably fifty or so pictures in each folder. In each folder, there were a handful of pictures that my dad felt were important enough to give a name to the picture in place of the generic computer-generated name. The named pictures were pictures of people or groups of people. I would estimate that 95% of the named pictures were labeled with variations of either “Carolyn” or “CTW” (my mother’s initials)…..it did not matter how many other people were in the picture….two….four….fifteen. It was clear that father’s focus was always on his high school sweetheart, my mother. I thought it was a nice testament to their beautiful 54 year marriage. It was wonderful to look through all of those pictures and see all of the adventures that my parents went on together, and to see how happy they both looked. A life well lived. Christopher David Ward

OBITUARY

David Burdick Ward

June 5, 1940 – September 27, 2018

IN THE CARE OF

Nelsen Williamsburg

David Burdick Ward, 78, of Williamsburg, Virginia, passed away on September 27, 2018, surrounded by his family.

He is survived by his loving wife of 54 years, Carolyn Tamplin Ward; his children, Mary Katharine Vesely (Michael) of Chesapeake, Virginia; Christopher David Ward (Kate) of Fairfax Station, Virginia; two brothers, Ralph A. Ward (Connie) of Cincinnati, Ohio, and Gerald W.R. Ward (Barbara) of Portsmouth, New Hampshire; and three grandchildren, Elizabeth Vesely, Kirsten Vesely, and Brandon Greyson.

Born on June 5, 1940, in Weymouth, Massachusetts, David was the second son of Methodist Bishop W. Ralph Ward Jr., and Arleen Burdick Ward. He grew up in Manchester, Connecticut, and Mount Lebanon, Pennsylvania, where he graduated from high school. He was educated at Harvard College (Class of 1962), received his law degree from Dickinson School of Law (1965) in Carlisle, Pennsylvania; and graduated from the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School (1988). After serving in the Coast Guard (1966-69), he worked for the law firm of Eckert, Seamans, Cherin, and Melott in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (1969-75), the Beneficial Management Corporation in Peapack, New Jersey (1976-89), and from 1989 to 2005 he maintained his own second-mortgage law firm in Chester and other towns in northern New Jersey. He retired to Williamsburg in 2006.

A talented football player, Dave was a fullback and placekicker (one of the last pre-soccer style kickers) on Harvard’s Ivy League co-championship team of 1961, and he participated in several reunions with his teammates. In later life, he was focused on spending time with, and enjoying his extended family. As an avid skier, he took great pleasure in annual family ski trips to many places around the country, and frequently traveled around the world with his wife, family, and friends. He always looked forward to and enjoyed time with family and friends during annual summer trips spent at the family cottage on Lake Erie. While in Williamsburg, David re-devoted himself to his lifelong love of music. He spent many hours playing the guitar and singing with various local jam groups, and volunteering at the Respite-Care Program at the Williamsburg United Methodist Church, to share the joy he found in music.

A Celebration of Life will be held at 11:00 AM on Friday, October 5, 2018 at the Williamsburg United Methodist Church, 500 Jamestown Road, Williamsburg, Virginia with a reception to follow in the church Fellowship Hall to greet the family.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Respite-Care Center at the Williamsburg United Methodist Church, 500 Jamestown Road, Williamsburg, Virginia 23185, to the American Cancer Society, or a charity of your choice. Online condolences may be shared with the family at www.NelsenWilliamsburg.com.

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