May 22, 2010 Columbus reserve officer dies www.privateofficer.com
source”columbus dispatch Whenever Blendon Township held its annual spring park cleanup, Township Trustee Jerry Ward would always be there.
And he wouldn’t be sitting on the sidelines supervising. Ward would wear a “big sloppy hat” and get his hands dirty spreading mulch or driving a tractor, said fellow Trustee Stew Flaherty.
“It wasn’t just ceremonial for him. He got in there and worked,” Flaherty said.
Ward, 66, died Saturday, engaging in another passion: working as a Columbus police reserve officer. He was providing security for the 18th annual Komen Columbus Race for the Cure when he had sharp pains in his chest. He died in Grant Medical Center, suffering from a torn aorta, said his wife, Liz Ward.
Blendon Township voters elected Ward six times, and he planned to run for re-election next year, his wife said.
Ward lost only once, by three votes when he ran for re-election in 1985.
“He had a long-term institutional memory, which is valuable,” Flaherty said. “That is something you don’t just replace.”
Ward’s life was about serving others, his wife said.
For the elderly women on Acapulco Place, Ward would mow lawns, shovel driveways and fix things, his wife said.
They were married in 1970, shortly after Ward went through the Columbus Police Academy. Liz Ward recalled that while her husband was a cadet, he was pressed into service working the riots at Ohio State University that spring. He continued serving as a Columbus police reserve officer and would take vacation time from his day job so he could volunteer.
When Riverside Methodist Hospital organized its security force in 1985, Ward was among the first hires and was still employed there.
Liz Ward and their only son, Aaron Ward, made it to the hospital Saturday and talked with him before he was wheeled into the operating room.
“He told me, ‘Thank you for 40 wonderful years and I love you very much,’ ” Liz Ward said. He told his son he was proud of him.
Liz Ward said her husband knew he might not make it. He wasn’t afraid and told her in his last words: “I have such peace and I know where I am going and I know it’s a good place
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