Mildred Ann Ward

Mildred Ann Shippy (Pegge) Ward went to be with her Lord and Savior in the early hours of January 29, 2026. She recently celebrated her 97th birthday, and died in her home in Lansing, Kansas, with her children by her side, following a brief illness.

Born in Caney, Kansas, she graduated from Caney High School in 1946. She worked in the Treasury Department of Phillips Petroleum Company until she married Thomas E. Ward in the spring of 1950. Pegge and Tom had two children, Thomas E. Ward, II, and Lucinda Ann Ward.

Pegge was active in the First Presbyterian Church of Bartlesville, singing in the choir, serving as a Deacon, and as an Elder. She regularly served as a camp counselor at the Presbyterian summer day camp operated in the undeveloped property behind Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church.

Her lifetime passion and commitment to her children was demonstrated in the activites she engaged in with her children. She was active in scouting, serving as a Den Mother for Cub Scouts and a Troop Leader for the Girl Scouts. In the Girl Scouts, she served frequently as a counselor at Camp Wah-Sha-She, and served on the Board of Directors in the Bluestem Council.

Pegge was also a tireless civic volunteer and leader. She volunteered at the Kiddie Park, was President of the Jayceeettes, was an officer in the Service League of Bartlesville, and served in the operation of the Service League’s Bargain Box thrift shop. She was a regular member of the cast for the Night On the Town, a local theater production. She also served as a docent for years at Woolaroc in Osage County and at the Price Tower Arts Center in Bartlesville.

When her children were grown, she embarked on a new adventure as a travel agent for Spears Travel Service. She became an ardent, adventurous traveler. Pegge’s travel experiences were varied and often exotic: parasailing in Acapulco, hot air ballooning across Kenya, staying in the Safari Lodge at the foot of Mt. Kilimanjaro for a photo safari, riding a section of the Iditarod, sailing the Star Clipper in the Caribbean, visiting Moscow and St. Petersburg in Russia, Peking and the Terra Cotta Soldiers in China, Dublin and Edinburgh in Ireland, and Ayers Rock in Australia. She also took advantage of her children’s assignments in the U.S. Army, visiting them in Germany several times and in Wales, United Kingdom. When visiting both her children together in Germany, the families watched as the Berlin Wall was torn down and participated in its destruction with hammer and chisel.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Cecil G. Shippy and Daisy Ann Hays Shippy, her siblings, Dorothy Jean Shippy Swayne, Chester LeRoy (Chet) Shippy, and Raymond Lee (Butch) Shippy. She is survived by her children and their spouses, Tom Ward II and wife Rhoda Risner, Lu Ann Klevecz and husband Jack Klevecz, six grandchildren, twelve great-grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews.

Visitation is planned for Thursday evening, February 19, 2026, from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM at Arnold Moore & Neekamp Funeral Home in Bartlesville. The funeral service will be at the First Presbyterian Church in Bartlesville, on Friday, February 20 at 10:00 AM followed by interment in the Shippy family plot at Sunnyside Cemetery in Caney, Kansas. Arrangements are under the direction of Arnold Moore & Neekamp Funeral Home and Cremation Service of downtown Bartlesville. To leave an online condolence for Pegge, visit www.honoringmemoriesbartlesville.com.