Joel H. Ward

1938 - 2016

Colonel Joel H. Ward, U.S. Army, Retired, 78, passed from this life on Tuesday, July 5, 2016. Graveside service: 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Moore Memorial Gardens, 1219 N. Davis Drive in Arlington. Memorials: His memory may be honored with a donation to the support of the Military Science Department at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) that started his professional life via The Cadet Corps Alumni Counsel, www.cadetcorps.org. Colonel Ward was born in Sherman on Jan. 3, 1938, to James Albert and Mathilda Rayburn Thompson Ward of Denison, where he spent his first 14 years. His family moved to Fort Worth in 1952, where he attended and graduated from Arlington Heights High School in 1956. At Arlington Heights High School, he began his military career as an R.O.T.C. cadet and a member of its championship drill team, the Arlington Heights Rifles. He worked his way through Arlington State College, being selected as a member of the Sam Houston Rifles, a national champion crack drill team. As a cadet he rose to the rank of Cadet Colonel and took command of the 600 man Corps of Cadets. He graduated from UTA with a Bachelor of Science degree in history, as a Distinguished Military Graduate and as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He served his country in assignments around the world for 25 years, always supported by his loving wife and growing family of three sons, while earning numerous awards to include three Bronze Stars for Valor during two tours in Vietnam. His military education includes numerous prestigious colleges and courses to include the U.S. Army Command & General Staff College, the U.S. Army War College and training in both Vietnamese and German by the Defense Language Training Institute. In addition to Vietnam, he served in the Pentagon and and as a nuclear weapons strategist to high level commands in Colorado Springs and Heidelberg Germany. He also commanded the 2nd Battalion, 1st Air Defense Artillery (Nike Hercules), a 1,500 man, nuclear capable unit in the Federal Republic of Germany known as "Second to None." He also completed a master's degree in Business. In 1984, he returned to the University of Texas at Arlington as the only former cadet to return as Professor of Military Science. He always considered it an honor to be a soldier. Upon his 1988 retirement from the Army, Colonel Ward launched his second career with Bank of America, rising to the position of vice president in technology management retiring in 2003. In 1993, he was inducted into the Military Science Hall of Honor at UTA. He continued his support of UTA by active participation with the UTA Alumni Association as a member of its board of directors. He was also the first president of the Cadet Corps Alumni Chapter. He was honored to be proclaimed Distinguished Alumni at the University of Texas at Arlington in November of 2006. He was preceded in death by his parents, James Albert Ward and Mathilda Thompson Ward Purbaugh; brother, Neill Thompson Ward; and his second son, Steven Thomas Ward, who passed at the age of 22. Survivors: He is survived by his loving wife of 55 years, Sue; two sons and their wives, Joel II and Marlena of Douglasville, Ga. and Michael and Amber of Williamsburg, Va; and his God-daughter and her husband, Christina and Grant Speck of Waxahachie. All three of his living children have enriched him with four granddaughters; one grandson; and one God-granddaughter. He was blessed with and cherished many friends for life.