Gregory Ward

Gregory John Ward, 64, died September 21, 2013 at home in Kansas City, Missouri. He was born August 10, 1949 to the late George Elton Ward and Mildred (Jaax) Ward in Montgomery, Alabama. He married Marsha Riggs on August 10, 1976. He is survived by his wife Marsha; son Jason Blackard of Cincinnati, Ohio; brother George "Al" Ward of Bella Vista, Arkansas; sisters Suzanne Ward of Springdale, Arkansas; Pamela Steele of Houston, Texas; and Cynthia Piontkowski (Dennis) of San Francisco, California; along with many nieces and nephews who loved their "Uncle Baloney". Greg served in the U. S. Army as a military policeman at West Point and in Vietnam, 1969 – 1970.  He graduated from the University of Arkansas in 1974, with a degree in Accounting. He worked as a CPA at Arthur Anderson, Williams Companies, and Buckeye Gas in Tulsa, Oklahoma, before being transferred to Kansas City in 1987.  Greg was Safety, Human Resources, and Risk Manager at Havens Steel, and most recently was working for Xact Data Discovery in Mission, Kansas. The family hosted exchange students from Greece, Turkey, and Argentina, with the AFS-USA program, and Greg served as a volunteer yearbook publisher for 10 years. The family wishes to express deep appreciation for the care Greg received from the Kansas City VA Medical Center, the KU Medical Center, and Liberty Hospital Hospice. A Memorial Service will be held at 2:00 p.m. Friday, September 27, 2013 at Mount Moriah Terrace Park Interment Chapel 801 NW 108th Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64155.In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Pancreatic Cancer Action Network www.pancan.org or 1500 Rosecrans Avenue, Suite 200, Manhattan Beach, California 90266, or AFS-USA (Student Exchange program), www.afsusa.org or AFS-USA, One Whitehall Street, 2nd Floor, New York, New York 10004.

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