Joseph Ward Sr.

Joseph Ward Sr. passed on December 6th, 2020. He was born to Jesse Ward and Willie Mae Thigpen on September 13th, 1937 in Soso, Mississippi. He has many siblings and half-siblings. With his mother passing at a young age, he was raised by his aunt, Vallie Mae Thigpen also known to the family as “Mama Rankin”. They moved up north to St. Louis Missouri, where he met his soon to be wife, Evangeline Lewis while attending school.

Later in life, Joseph decided to enlist in the military and joined the Army, fighting in the Korean War. He fought for his country and was an immensely proud soldier serving for 10 plus years. After active duty, he came back home and got married to Evangeline in 1962, keeping a promise to her mother Winnie, that he would always protect her. Together, they had five children which included Flavia, Carlton, Robin, Joseph Jr. and Lillian. Joseph was very family-oriented and everything he did was to motivate, inspire and protect the youth. He decided to work for McDonnell Douglas now known as Boeing for 30 plus years after being in the military simply to devote his time to take care of his family and raising his children, creating outlasting memories. He would build on aircrafts and would always tell stories about it.

Joseph has many grandchildren, and he was well respected among them all. He was an excellent listener that was full of wisdom and was non-judgmental. He would listen to any situation and knew exactly what to say in response. He worked hard for what he believed in and his strong, pure spirit could never be duplicated.

Joseph was the best student, willing to learn anything that was new and wanting to know exactly how it worked. He was also a man that whatever he had put his mind to, he accomplished it and because of this, he was a great role model. Even when the going got tough, he would always say, “the sun will come out tomorrow”.  Joseph, we love you and you will always be in your family’s hearts forever. Thank you for everything.

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