John Morris Ward, formerly of rural Papillion, passed away in Mesa, Arizona on October 24, 2018 at the age of 94. Funeral services will be held at Trinity Lutheran Church, Papillion, on November 16 at 10 a.m.. Interment will be at Fairview Cemetery. American Legion Post 32 will provide military honors. A Celebration of Life will be conducted later in Mesa at Carriage Manor Retirement Park in January.
He was born to John M. and Mildred Holman Ward on December 13, 1923 on a farm near Gordon, Nebraska. The family moved to a farm northwest of Springfield, Nebraska in 1925. Two years later, they moved to the Clarke place (the Big House) one mile south of Papillion. He graduated from Papillion High School in 1941. After attending Omaha University, he was drafted into the U.S. Army in late 1942. He served more than three years in the Army Signal Corps, the last year on Okinawa.
Returning home in 1946, he resumed college before deciding to farm and feed cattle with his father. He married Bernice Timme on June 22, 1947, and they started out in a house (the Little House) that had no water or electricity. To this union were born three daughters, Pamela, Bonnie, and JoAnn. In 1959 the Ward family moved to the Big House. In 1963 John’s father built a cabin on Lake Ojibway near Nevis, Minnesota where they spent many happy summers.
Shortly after moving to a new home on Platteview Road, his wife, Bernice, passed away in 1973. On October 4, 1974, John married Lucille Hanes Buesing. Lucille passed away in 2001.
John was active in the local community, serving 27 years on both the County Fair Board and the State Fair Board. He served on the Papillion School Board and Educational Service Unit #3 as well as in many other organizations. He was a member and past commander of American Legion Post 32 and the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) #9675. In 1991 he was named a Distinguished Graduate of Papillion-LaVista Public Schools.
In his later years, John lived in Mesa where he served on the retirement park’s architectural board and played washboard in the kitchen band. Deteriorating health forced John to move to Mariposa Point of Mesa, an assisted living facility, in the summer of 2018. His family is grateful to the staff of Mariposa Point and Family Comfort Palliative/Hospice Care for their loving attention to John in his final months.
John was preceded in death by his parents, John and Mildred Ward, his first wife Bernice, his second wife Lucille, his brother Bob, and his companion, Helen Mae Darrah.
He leaves to mourn his passing his three daughters: Pamela (Bob) Voboril, Bonnie (Virgil Wayne) Mink, and JoAnn (Mark) Rumley; his step-son Ron (Bobby) Buesing, and his sister-in-law Mary June Ward; 13 grandchildren: Amanda Dalton, Joe Mann, Mike Mann, Eve Mitchell, Mlada Hill, Kathleen Z. Lewis, Tom Voboril, Alzbeta Volk, Jakub Voboril, Matej Voboril, Rick Buesing, Steve Buesing, and Craig Buesing; 34 great-grandchildren, and numerous nieces, nephews, and friends.
John Ward was an unforgettable character. He was a successful farmer, a proud veteran, a caring husband, and a storyteller who made friends easily. He was a lifelong Christian, and he and Bernice were charter members of Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church. Perhaps due to his short stature, he could be cantankerous, but he also raised his three daughters to be strong and independent like him.
John enjoyed traveling, exploring, fishing, mischief, a great steak and a good stiff drink, but he enjoyed people most of all. A member of the Greatest Generation, John knew the difference between making a living and making a life, and he left his mark on the communities where he lived and on his family and friends whom he loved. Rest in peace, John.
Pam, Bonnie & JoAnn: So.. sorry to hear about your dad passing. Think of him and you girls often when I go by his home by Platteview Road. He was our 4-H leader and worked with Sarpy & State Fair Boards.
Pam, Bonnie & JoAnn: So.. sorry to hear about your dad passing. Think of him and you girls often when I go by his home by Platteview Road. He was our 4-H leader and worked with Sarpy & State Fair Boards.