Steve Ward

Steve Ward, 65, passed away on October 3, 2022, following a long battle with kidney cancer. Steve was born October 22, 1956, in Hanover, NH, to Robert Nelson Ward and Jean Dent Ward. He attended Fairlee Elementary School and Oxbow High School in Bradford, VT, graduating in 1974. After attending the University of Vermont for a semester, he entered military service in January 1975, joining the United States Marine Corps. Graduating from boot camp in June of 1975, he would go on to attend several technical schools in Memphis, TN, and New River, NC, with the goal of becoming a CH-46 helicopter electrician. In 1976 he started dating his high school friend, Terry Lee Ellsworth. They were married in Fairlee, VT, in June 1978. Over the next 23 years they would spend their lives together traveling throughout the country and raising their 2 children. Upon making the decision to make a career of the Marine Corps, Steve did everything possible to achieve the highest rank possible-attending either a school in person or by correspondence. In 1984 while an E-6 Staff Sergeant, he was fortunate to receive an officer commission as a warrant officer. In 1993, he was selected to be the Marine Corps Avionics representative in the development and eventually successful fielding of the MV-22 Osprey Tiltrotor Aircraft. Steve travelled all over the country for the next 8 years, meeting some of the most intelligent minds in the aircraft manufacturing business. “Much smarter than I was,” he would often say. In 2001, after 26 years of service, Steve retired from the USMC at the highest warrant officer rank (CWO5). He and Terry purchased a home in her original hometown of Piermont, NH, as Steve embarked upon what would be his second career as an equipment manager for the athletics department of Dartmouth College. Steve’s life-long passion for competitive sports served him well over the next 21 years on the campus of The Big Green. In his spare time, Steve was a high school basketball referee and an accomplished golfer. He is loved and remembered by the family he leaves behind, including two grandchildren, and countless friends and colleagues.

Tributes

Steve Ward

October 22, 1962 - January 8, 2023