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Below are some typical views of 18 Mile Creek and memories of Chuck and Nancy Ward. Our thoughts of Gary will always reflect on our vacation in ...
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Slide 2:This presentation is dedicated to the life of Gary S. Ward and will provide a glimpse into what made Gary the person he was, through his family background, photos, descriptions of events in his life and memories shared by those who knew him.
CHAPTER 1 CHILDHOOD & FAMILY
Gary Wards ancestors came, on the Ward/Lyon side, from the British Isles mostly from England with a little Scotch thrown in for good measure. Many were some of the first settlers in New England, arriving in the 1630s, shortly after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. From the Spittler/Metz side, they came entirely from good-hearted, hard-working German country-folk, arriving in the mid-1800s.Slide 4:Robert Ward, born and raised in the Adirondack Mts. of NY found his way over to the Buffalo area where his older brother Earl was living and began working for the Nash Clothing Co. Carolyn Sis Spittler, the oldest daughter of George and Edith Metz Spittler, also got a job at the Nash Clothing Co. after attending business school and in 1933 the couple was married in a garden wedding.
Amanda J. Lyon 1858-1934 Charles R. Ward 1854-1904 George W. Spittler 1883-1958 Edith C. Metz 1882-1966 Robert and Carolyn Spittler Ward - 1933
Slide 5:Robert and Carolyn settled in Lake View, NY where Carolyns parents owned and operated a very successful grocery store, and close to her large extended family of 3 brothers Kenneth, Charles and Donald - and a sister, Naomi. Times were difficult during the Depression years, with 3 children coming in quick succession Charles Chuck in 1935 Lindah in 1937 Gary in 1938 Susan came near the end of WWII in 1944
The Ward family at Fort Ticonderoga in 1951: Earl (Roberts brother), Carolyn, Lindah, Gary, Robert and Chuck, with Susan in front.
Slide 6:Gary was particularly close to his sister Lindah and they spent a lot of time doing things together. As shown in the photo below, Gary was famous for putting his pants on backwards.
I guess I could have been called a "little mother" to Gary when he was a toddler, but he called me "Sister Ninda" then later "Sister Linna". If anyone upset him he would always threaten that he would tell his Sister Ninda on them. We were together almost constantly until he was 5 - 6 years old when he realized it was more fun tagging along with his big brother Chuck. Gary was a mischievous little boy who wore his pants backwards and a big grin, almost like saying, you haven't the slightest idea of what I will do next. Mom had her hands full trying to anticipate what he and Chuck were up to. There was never a dull moment . Gary loved matches and would sneak off and strike every match in the box and just watch them burn. One time he decided to see what it would be like to hold one near some straw on the floor of our pup-tent. Guess what, the straw started on fire and destroyed the tent, but not before Gary attempted to stomp the fire out with his feet. He and Chuck shared a double bed and hours after they were supposed to be sleeping, you could hear them giggling while they would be listening to their transister radio. On one occasion, when Gary was sure he would get a spanking for not getting home when he was suppose to, which happened often, and anticipating the sting on his little behind, he decided he'd be clever and put a board in his pants. When Dad cracked him on his butt, Dad saw "stars" and the spanking stopped rather abruptly. Lindah Ward Schucker
Slide 7:Because Robert Ward had spent his youth in the woods of the Adirondacks, he had a great love of nature and the family spent a lot of time outdoors, especially during the summer. He was also the Scout master for several years. Below is one of Garys Cub Scout meetings. His best friend as a boy was Billie Gomez, 2nd from the left, and below is a recollection from Uncle Duke Spittler about the relationship.
Gary Ward was my nephew, the son of Robert and Carolyn (Spittler) Ward. In his youth, he demonstrated a flair to be a comic. One of his closest friends in his youth was Billy Gomez, who always seemed to be amused in Garys company. Billys mother often came to Spittlers store to purchase her supplies. Her station wagon was often occupied by a huge dog, her daughter, and her son Billy. If Gary came out of the store, Billys eyes would open wide and a big smile came to his face. Gary and Billy were constant companions. Mrs. Gomez seemed to enjoy this association. Uncle Duke Spittler Cub Scout meeting with Gary at far left and Billy Gomez, next to him, probably around 1948.
Slide 8:The family lived near 18 Mile Creek which provided a natural playground of never-ending possibilities. Camping out was a large part of the families activities and learning experiences, like building structures out of limbs, constructing a latrine and of course the unforgettable smell of shish-kabobs roasting on an open fire. Below are some typical views of 18 Mile Creek and memories of Chuck and Nancy Ward.
Our thoughts of Gary will always reflect on our vacation in California and the good time we had with him. We hadn't seen him in many years and when we called and told him we were coming to California he put a lot of effort in researching places of interest that he thought we would enjoy. The three of us had a fun time. Chuck, of course, will always cherish his memories of the two of them enjoying the 18 Mile Creek in their younger years. Chuck and Nancy Ward < Views of 18 Mile Creek, near Lake View, NY
Slide 9:During the 40s and 50s, when many children didnt have a lot of toys, the Ward children had fun making up games themselves. In the summer, they would play hide and seek amidst the lilac bushes which surrounded their small house on Burke Rd. Below is Susans memory of a another game she would play with Gary.
Since I am the youngest of the Ward children, Gary was the next oldest up from me and 5 years older than me. In other words, he was the "baby" until I came along. We both shared a love of art and creativity and a game we used to play was what could be called "Free Association Scribbling". One of us would scribble on a piece of paper and the other one would make the scribble look like something. I loved this game even though Gary (being older) was undoubtedly better at it than I was. Both Chuck and Gary also played a lot of tricks on me since I was the youngest. I remember one night as I was going to bed in our grandparents' house, I noticed the closet door in the bedroom kept slowly opening. You guessed it - Gary had hid in the closet and was trying to scare me. Susan Ward Merk
Slide 10:Life for the Ward children took a sad turn in 1953 when their mother Carolyn died from breast cancer an event which would shape all their lives forever. Since their father Robert was a difficult person to live with, the children chose to live with their grandparents, George and Edith Spittler. And so on a fall day in 1953, after Robert had left for work and before going to school, they packed up what small amount of belongings they had and with the help of their cousin Betty Spittler, vacated the family home, never to return again.
Slide 11:Gary had a sense of humor combined with a bit of mischievousness that made everyone laugh.
On one occasion, I had Gary as a passenger in my 2 ˝ ton truck. As we approached the intersection of Lake View road and Rt. 20, my vision was obstructed for east bound traffic on Rt. 20. I asked Gary if any cars were coming on his side and he said no. As I started to ease through the intersection he quipped just one!!! As I quickly applied the brakes Gary laughed. Uncle Duke Spittler Gary was a clown, not a fighter. Whenever someone in his group of pals had a disagreement or started to argue, Gary would clown around or make some funny remark and the group would burst into laughter and forget all about their squabble. Gary was an entertainer. He would extend his sideburns, grab his guitar and there was Elvis, quivering lip and gyrating hips. The next day he would be wearing his long-sleeved white shirt, open collar, dark rimmed glasses, cigarette dangling from his mouth and he'd be he brooding James Dean. One of his spontaneous acts was to hold his imaginary cigar, raise his eyebrows and there was Groucho feeding you one-liners. Lindah Ward Schucker Gary lived with us for a while in 2000 and later that year purchased a condominium at Atlantic Shores Retirement Community in Virginia Beach. He may have seemed quiet but he still had his devilish ways. He would print risque, but cute cartoons and sneak them into the mail room and pin them on the bulletin board. He would scurry away and then come strolling back later to hear the reaction when someone found them. One time he was not fast enough and the cleaning lady saw him. He was reported and got a lecture from the administrator. He asked Lindah to purchase him a bicycle horn. When asked why, he just grinned. He attached it to his motorized wheelchair and loved to sneak up behind other residents and blow the horn sending them nearly to the ceiling. He would roam around at night and would find his way into the dining room kitchen. When the guard found out who was snitching the apples and bananas he locked the door and told Gary. Gary just looked at him and said, "That won't stop me". Keith Schucker
Slide 12:CHAPTER 2 FRIENDS & YOUNG ADULTHOOD
He took the road less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. Robert Frost (paraphrased)
Woodlawn High SchoolSlide 13:Gary attended Lake View School then Woodlawn High School for 3 years and was a member of the 1st class to graduate from Frontier Central High School in 1956.
Lake View School Frontier Central High School Some of Garys Friends Mark Fierle George (GeGe) OBrien Judy Helta Donnie Ryan Mike Hummel Jim McGillicuddy Bobby Almendinger > < Bill Walker
Slide 14:Gary was well-liked by other kids his age in Lake View - here are some memories from his friend Paul Petek about trying to swim across Lake Erie
There was one major (and stupid) thing Gary and I did together. In the summer of '56 or '57, Gary and I decided to swim to Crystal Beach, Ontario from the huge boulder where Lake View road meets the each. The distance was about 13 miles. We got about seven miles from shore (we estimated that because Canada looked closer than Lake View) when a guy in a boat came along and asked us "What the hell are you guys doing out here" . "Well we're swimming to Crystal Beach of course." and under my breath, what the hell does it look like we're doing. We were very cocky and fearless in those days. He said "Get in the boat now!" We thought about it for a few seconds and decided discretion was the better part of valor and got in the boat and he gave us a ride back to where we started from. Teen age boys sometimes do the dumbest things. We were lucky, we could have drowned and qualified for a Darwin Award by removing ourselves from the gene pool. Paul Petek
Slide 15:Here are some more memories from one of his best friends, Peter Gannon.
Gary and I hung together from the time I was about 10 until he left for Chicago to go to art school. I recall vividly his perseverance to make it on his own. He admitted to me that while in school in Chicago he lived on beans for weeks as he was broke. As a 16 or 17 year old I didn't understand at the time, but as I grew older it dawned on me the guts and integrity it took to stick it out. The fun things I remember... his Elvis impersonation at the Nichols School pep-rally in '56 with Bill Gomez who was graduating. The paper route that he suckered us into helping him with (like Huck Finn and the fence painting episode). The "camp" by the quarry that big brother Chuck had but let us "kids" pitch our tent and sleep over. I remember the tiny house where the Ward family lived and could never figure how so many squeezed into that place. I remember when he met the Shoemaker family and fell in love. Saw Gary and Lynn only twice after I left for college. Once in '69 on my way to that wonderful resort called Viet Nam. I stopped in California where, they tried to fix me up. Yes Lynn, I still remember Martha Capps. The next visit was about '72 in Clarence NY where I was living with his brother-in-law Rollie Shoemaker (small world). We went to a pub and I discovered that Gary was possibly the worst dancer in the world. Still doing his Elvis impersonation on the dance floor but not to the music that was playing. Peter Gannon Gary doing his Elvis impersonation at the Lake View Fire Hall.
Slide 16:Gary married Lynn Shoemaker from Hamburg, NY and soon settled down and raised a family. They lived in a guest house on the Gomez property near a cliff overlooking 18 Mile Creek, a place very dear to Garys heart. Bonny Jo was born in 1959 and Becky Tee came in 1960. Gary made extra money as a photographer, shooting weddings and other small jobs. Below are some of Susans memories.
I remember (like yesterday) babysitting Bonny and Becky in Gomez' "guest house" while Gary and Lynn did the laundry and shopping in Hamburg. There was something about that house which made you feel like you were on vacation in the woods somewhere. Lindah and I got Bonny a rocking horse for her birthday and I can still picture her riding on it, having such a good time. Susan Ward Merk But Gary had dreams of something bigger so in the summer of 1963, Lindah, Susan and he drove across country to the Golden State where Gary would spend the next 37 years. I also remember when Gary, Lindah and I drove across the US in 1963 and arrived in San Francisco in just 3 days (only stopping briefly to sleep in the car). From that point on, we heard very little from Gary and our family was never quite the same. Susan Ward Merk
Slide 17:CHAPTER 2 ADULTHOOD & PUTTING DOWN ROOTS IN CALIFORNIA
They turned the country up on its side, and everything loose fell into California. Frank Lloyd Wright
Slide 18:Gary loved the free and easy bohemian lifestyle in California and settled in Anaheim, near Los Angeles. One of his joys was sending out creative and novel Christmas cards, such as the ones below.
But in the early 70s, Lynn and Gary divorced and Gary moved several 100 miles north to San Francisco, where he became a successful graphic artist, but still maintained his first love of photography.
I enjoyed our visits to Disneyland, Marineland of the Pacific and San Juan Capastrano along with Lynn, Bonny and Becky. In 1974 when we returned from Hawaii he spent 2-3 days giving us the grand tour of San Francisco. He knew where all of the good restaurants were. Lindah and I visited him several times after he moved to Vallejo. He was always a good "tour guide" and one day took us to Sebastiani Vineyards in Sonoma Valley. We packed a lunch, purchased wine and spent the afternoon sitting in the gazebo enjoying the California sun. I remember the times we used to prepare dinner in his kitchen. Gary and I would be the cooks and Lindah had KP-duty. They would always argue as Lindah would wash his fry-pans and he seasoned them. Later in the evening, Gary would sit in his director's chair and we would sit and talk for hours. Keith SchuckerSlide 19:Lindah and Keith, due to their moves and travels, were able to visit Gary in California several times. Below are their memories of these occasions.
When Gary lived in California, we usually managed to visit him when traveling on the West Coast. Keith and I visited him, Lynn, Bonny and Becky in Anaheim and enjoyed our trip to Marineland of the Pacific. Wherever he went, he had his camera. Bonny and Becky were often his subjects. They would sit and pose until Gary had the light, background just perfect. This day was not an exception. Gary met Keith, Michael, Tammy and me in San Francisco on our return from living in Hawaii. We had a great time as he took us to Sausalito for some of their good seafood; toured San Francisco's fisherman's wharf and watched the street performers. Michael and Tammy will always remember jumping on the cable cars at 3 o'clock in the morning while Gary was trying to snap their picture. Keith and I enjoyed our visits at his home in Vallejo, CA. We prepared dinners together; toured some of the Napa Valley wineries and enjoyed evenings just talking and catching up. One memorable day, when Keith was working with the Chad Little Nascar Race Team at Sears Point, Gary took me for a ride in his green vintage jeep. We cruised down the highway, hair blowing in our faces, laughing and giggling, bumping over the ditch and through the dusty fields. When distance sometimes separated us, we kept in contact with telephone calls that sometimes lasted 3-4 hours or more. We laughed at and with one another. Lindah Ward Schucker
Slide 20:Sometime in the late 1990s, after having open-heart surgery, Gary was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. He continued working but due to progression of the disease, he was soon unable to drive and had problems walking and seeing.
I went out to see Gary in 2000 in Vallejo, CA (near San Francisco) and discovered he was not in any physical or mental state to be living alone. So Lindah and I brought him East, with the thought of getting his strength back so he could again live independently. Unfortunately, this was not to be the case. Susan Ward Merk Keith and I invited Gary for a visit in the fall of 2000. After a few months he decided to remain in Virginia and did until his passing in March 2007. I am thankful that I had the opportunity to spend his last 6 ˝ years with him. We had our discouraging, angry, stressful, heart-breaking times, but we also had our good times; times when we talked, laughed and were happy in one another's company. Although Gary sometimes was discouraged and angry, he never lost his sense of humor; when he left the doctor's office and drove off the handicap ramp in his motorized wheelchair, instead of down the ramp. He went sailing through the air while everyone gasped. It took him a second or two after he landed to regain his composure and then burst into laughter. What a relief! Or when we took him to a French restaurant and he started speaking French to the owner (who was actually French). The owner corrected Gary several times. After the owner went back to the kitchen, Gary laughed and commented that his French wasn't as good as he thought. Lindah Ward Schucker
Gary was my friend and I will always remember him with a smile and fond memories. I do regret terribly the fact that I missed going to see him in Virginia. I missed one year due to an emergency at work and was already planning to go in April when I headed north but he beat me on his final trip by a mere few weeks. Gary, I'm sorry. I will miss you old friend. God bless and God speed. Keep the wind at your back and an ace up your sleeve. You are now at peace. Peter Gannon Gary's demise indicates the debilitating effects associated with MS. My memories of Gary depict a jolly kid who never had a worry, and it is saddening that he had to spend so many of his late years with such an affliction. Chuck and I decorate the graves in Eden every year, so this year we will dedicate our efforts to include Gary. Uncle Duke Spittler It is hard to imagine that he is gone - while we are all getting older, it still seems that he is much too young. I didn't know that he had MS - a hard way to go. I suppose the last time I saw Gary was when we were still all teenagers. My memories of Gary are mostly of the time he spent with us in the summers in Canada and the fun we had as kids. Ann Gomez Whitworth I am sad that he didnt keep in better contact with the Ward family during his years in California and that he had to spend his last few months alone with no hope of getting any better. Im thankful I was able to visit him in Nov. 2006 and brought him lots of treats which he enjoyed. Susan Ward Merk Gary Ward 1938-2007 http://seiz2day.com/sbmerk/family/obits/GSWard.html Our lives have all gone in different directions, life is like a book that never ends, chapters close, but not the book itself. I cry not for my cousin Gary.....but for the people left behind, he is in a wonderful garden with his wonderful Mother.....free of pain and in the arms of love right where he always wanted to be Cousin Cheryl Jewart Masterman I will always remember my last visit with Gary on the afternoon of March 21, 2007. He hated the expression, "Hi, how are you doing" so I used to tease him and greet him that way. That afternoon when I walked into his room, he had his eyes closed and head to the side. I said, "Hi Gary, How are ya doin". He opened his eyes and gave me the biggest smile and nodded his head. That smile and nod are unforgettable. Sister Linna aka Lindah Ward SchuckerSlide 22:Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune Or to take arms against a sea of troubles And by opposing end them. To die, to sleep - No more - and by a sleep to say we end The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to. 'Tis a consummation Devoutly to be wished. But that the dread of something after death, The undiscovered country, from whose bourn No traveler returns, puzzles the will, And makes us rather bear those ills we have Than fly to others that we know not of? Thus conscience does make cowards of us all. Hamlet, by William Shakespeare
