Obituary for Sidney Ward
SIDNEY ALFRED WARD. Jan 30, 1935- March 26, 2022
It is with heavy hearts that we have been parted from our Dad, Sidney Alfred Ward today, March 26, 2022, after his having lived a life full of joy and laughter. We were grateful to have been able to celebrate his 87th birthday only a few weeks back. Mom, (Joan) went ahead of him 10 years ago, he missed her everyday and it brings us peace to know they are together now. They are surely celebrating with their parents and the many brothers and sisters and friends who have gone ahead of him. Let the teasing, dancing and (loud) laughing begin!
Sid was the second youngest of a large loving family. This is no doubt where he developed his love and commitment to family, at all levels. Nothing brought dad more joy then when someone arrived for a visit from
away or there was a celebration of family, be it a birthday, wedding or Christmas Eve. Great times were had with his brothers, sisters and the many in-laws or outlaws as they were often jokingly referred too, as well
as nephews and nieces galore!
Sidney worked his 16th summer, in 1951, at Camp Robinson at Cedar Lake in forestry 70 years ago. While away his parents, brother and sister wrote him weekly. These letters have been recently found, along with many other treasures, and they were reread and shared with the correspondents who remain with us, Aunt Vi and Uncle Don. They brought great joy to dad when we would read them aloud to him over these past difficult months when his health was failing. Our Dad worked hard throughout his life, but was one of few people who retiring on April 1, 1994 enjoying nearly 28 years of retirement from Mando, Boise Cascade, Abitibi, Resolute etc. He found it extremely disturbing that the mill would be torn down, as many of us do, but appreciated watching the videos and looking at the pictures his nephew Tom Ward posted over these past months when he couldn’t go out to see the changes.
Dad joked about “when my ship comes in...”, but we all knew his ship had come in when he met our mother! He was a trend setter back in the 60’s when he married our young single mom with 2 small children and together they went on to build a beautiful life which included adding 3 more beautiful children followed by 10 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren. They built and enjoyed a cabin on Footprint Lake and a grand new home to house all 7 of us, both built in the span of one year with toddlers under foot. No small feat!
He was, bar none, the best Grampa to our children. In his eyes, they could do no wrong and he was so, so proud of each and every one of them.
He was proud of us too and always told us so, but he had more time for the youngsters being that he was retired for the past 28 years, he enjoyed his time with them immensely. He attended many events involving ballet, hockey, baseball, soccer, curling, basketball, volleyball, swimming lessons, horse back riding, and probably counted a million cars of the passing trains with Kobi!
Thank goodness for FaceTime and Zoom, as many visits were accommodated over the years...the magic of talking to and seeing his first great grandchild (Iris) in England never ceased to amaze Dad, right down to
these last weeks, he’d brighten right up when we made a connection and would say “That’s amazing! I can’t believe we can see them”... in Prince George, Carleton Place, Vancouver or Brighton!. Dad is survived by his twin sisters, Marjorie Smeeth and Violet Lawrence, his youngest brother Don (Sybil) Ward, sister-in-laws Millie Ward, Ginny Lief and MaryEllen Werner and brother-in- law Clifford Robinson.
His children:Laureen (Earl) Vandetti, Alexis (Barry Smith) Vandetti and daughter Iris Vandetti-Smith, Jordan (Jenna Klein) Vandetti.Dale Ward, his sons Alzias Tessier and Dylan Ward.Glenn (Vanessa) Ward, Tori Hebert and Charlie, Tatum Hebert (Braden Smith) and Theo. Marilyn (Richard) Vollebregt, Bronte (Jonathon Hamilton)
and Haiden.Darrin (Patty) Ward, Kobi and Isabella.Nephews and nieces and extended family too numerous to mention.
Gone ahead are his parents Sidney and Florence Ward. Brothers, sisters and spouses: Albert (Ollie), Stan, Leslie and Bob (Elsie) Ward, sisters Olive (Ike) Eisenhauer, Gladys (Don) Kerr, sister-in-laws Carol Robinson, and Sylvia Coloumbe, brother-in-laws Edward Werner, Cecil Leif and Ron Coloumbe. Lastly but missed the most was his brother-in-law Bert Smeeth, they have a lot of catching up to do!
Dad would be embarrassed by all the praise heaped on him, but we hope he knew what a very special person he was to so many people. We will very much miss his unfailing support, his great smile and jovial Ward laugh, but we are happy in knowing that he is released from his failing body.
Thank you to the compassionate and hard working staff at Rainycrest who on a daily basis work to make peoples lives as comfortable and safe as possible.Thank you to Pastor Quast for his visits and support.
An extra special Thank you to Dr. Nugent who Dad so appreciated, he regularly told people how lucky he was to have the best Dr. In town. We also are grateful for Dr. Nugent’s care and support of our Dad, and we all agree with Dad’s opinion of Dr. Nugent.
Love you Dad!
Funeral arrangements are being made through Northridge Funeral Home.Service will be held on Friday May 6, 2022 at 1pm Pastor Jacob Quast will officiate at the Fort Frances, Church of the Lutheran Hour where he was married, confirmed and worshipped for many years.Sharing time and luncheon at Royal Canadian Legion to follow internment at Riverview Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers it was dad’s wish that he could financially assist his Great granddaughter Iris Vandetti-Smith, as Iris has Cerebral Palsy and will require specialized mobility equipment throughout her life. He would be thrilled to know that a trust in her name is being established to help her in the coming years. If you wish to make a contribution you can e-transfer Darrin Ward at kobella1049@gmail.com , or Laureen Vandetti at lkvandetti@yahoo.ca . Alternately a cheque or money order can be mailed to Darrin Ward at 1049 Sunset Drive, Fort Frances P9A 3M2. Northridge Funeral Home has graciously offered to forward any donations received to the family.
It is with heavy hearts that we have been parted from our Dad, Sidney Alfred Ward today, March 26, 2022, after his having lived a life full of joy and laughter. We were grateful to have been able to celebrate his 87th birthday only a few weeks back. Mom, (Joan) went ahead of him 10 years ago, he missed her everyday and it brings us peace to know they are together now. They are surely celebrating with their parents and the many brothers and sisters and friends who have gone ahead of him. Let the teasing, dancing and (loud) laughing begin!
Sid was the second youngest of a large loving family. This is no doubt where he developed his love and commitment to family, at all levels. Nothing brought dad more joy then when someone arrived for a visit from
away or there was a celebration of family, be it a birthday, wedding or Christmas Eve. Great times were had with his brothers, sisters and the many in-laws or outlaws as they were often jokingly referred too, as well
as nephews and nieces galore!
Sidney worked his 16th summer, in 1951, at Camp Robinson at Cedar Lake in forestry 70 years ago. While away his parents, brother and sister wrote him weekly. These letters have been recently found, along with many other treasures, and they were reread and shared with the correspondents who remain with us, Aunt Vi and Uncle Don. They brought great joy to dad when we would read them aloud to him over these past difficult months when his health was failing. Our Dad worked hard throughout his life, but was one of few people who retiring on April 1, 1994 enjoying nearly 28 years of retirement from Mando, Boise Cascade, Abitibi, Resolute etc. He found it extremely disturbing that the mill would be torn down, as many of us do, but appreciated watching the videos and looking at the pictures his nephew Tom Ward posted over these past months when he couldn’t go out to see the changes.
Dad joked about “when my ship comes in...”, but we all knew his ship had come in when he met our mother! He was a trend setter back in the 60’s when he married our young single mom with 2 small children and together they went on to build a beautiful life which included adding 3 more beautiful children followed by 10 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren. They built and enjoyed a cabin on Footprint Lake and a grand new home to house all 7 of us, both built in the span of one year with toddlers under foot. No small feat!
He was, bar none, the best Grampa to our children. In his eyes, they could do no wrong and he was so, so proud of each and every one of them.
He was proud of us too and always told us so, but he had more time for the youngsters being that he was retired for the past 28 years, he enjoyed his time with them immensely. He attended many events involving ballet, hockey, baseball, soccer, curling, basketball, volleyball, swimming lessons, horse back riding, and probably counted a million cars of the passing trains with Kobi!
Thank goodness for FaceTime and Zoom, as many visits were accommodated over the years...the magic of talking to and seeing his first great grandchild (Iris) in England never ceased to amaze Dad, right down to
these last weeks, he’d brighten right up when we made a connection and would say “That’s amazing! I can’t believe we can see them”... in Prince George, Carleton Place, Vancouver or Brighton!. Dad is survived by his twin sisters, Marjorie Smeeth and Violet Lawrence, his youngest brother Don (Sybil) Ward, sister-in-laws Millie Ward, Ginny Lief and MaryEllen Werner and brother-in- law Clifford Robinson.
His children:Laureen (Earl) Vandetti, Alexis (Barry Smith) Vandetti and daughter Iris Vandetti-Smith, Jordan (Jenna Klein) Vandetti.Dale Ward, his sons Alzias Tessier and Dylan Ward.Glenn (Vanessa) Ward, Tori Hebert and Charlie, Tatum Hebert (Braden Smith) and Theo. Marilyn (Richard) Vollebregt, Bronte (Jonathon Hamilton)
and Haiden.Darrin (Patty) Ward, Kobi and Isabella.Nephews and nieces and extended family too numerous to mention.
Gone ahead are his parents Sidney and Florence Ward. Brothers, sisters and spouses: Albert (Ollie), Stan, Leslie and Bob (Elsie) Ward, sisters Olive (Ike) Eisenhauer, Gladys (Don) Kerr, sister-in-laws Carol Robinson, and Sylvia Coloumbe, brother-in-laws Edward Werner, Cecil Leif and Ron Coloumbe. Lastly but missed the most was his brother-in-law Bert Smeeth, they have a lot of catching up to do!
Dad would be embarrassed by all the praise heaped on him, but we hope he knew what a very special person he was to so many people. We will very much miss his unfailing support, his great smile and jovial Ward laugh, but we are happy in knowing that he is released from his failing body.
Thank you to the compassionate and hard working staff at Rainycrest who on a daily basis work to make peoples lives as comfortable and safe as possible.Thank you to Pastor Quast for his visits and support.
An extra special Thank you to Dr. Nugent who Dad so appreciated, he regularly told people how lucky he was to have the best Dr. In town. We also are grateful for Dr. Nugent’s care and support of our Dad, and we all agree with Dad’s opinion of Dr. Nugent.
Love you Dad!
Funeral arrangements are being made through Northridge Funeral Home.Service will be held on Friday May 6, 2022 at 1pm Pastor Jacob Quast will officiate at the Fort Frances, Church of the Lutheran Hour where he was married, confirmed and worshipped for many years.Sharing time and luncheon at Royal Canadian Legion to follow internment at Riverview Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers it was dad’s wish that he could financially assist his Great granddaughter Iris Vandetti-Smith, as Iris has Cerebral Palsy and will require specialized mobility equipment throughout her life. He would be thrilled to know that a trust in her name is being established to help her in the coming years. If you wish to make a contribution you can e-transfer Darrin Ward at kobella1049@gmail.com , or Laureen Vandetti at lkvandetti@yahoo.ca . Alternately a cheque or money order can be mailed to Darrin Ward at 1049 Sunset Drive, Fort Frances P9A 3M2. Northridge Funeral Home has graciously offered to forward any donations received to the family.