Ward

James Clayton Ward Sr., 83, of Saxonburg Road, Butler, died at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday in Butler Memorial Hospital.

Born Dec. 17, 1925, in Elyria, Ohio, he was the son of the late Floyd William Ward and Ida Elizabeth Pomeroy Ward.

Mr. Ward Sr. was a member of the First Baptist Church in Butler.

He was a mechanical engineer for Wean United Engineering and Foundry, where he retired in 1995 and then he freelanced for several years.

Jim was a Herbalife independent distributor for 25 years. He worked on the Titan Missile, perfecting the launch pad, as a contractor for NASA.

Mr. Ward served with an anti-aircraft artillery group in the Asiatic-Pacific theater of operations in the Philippines. As a noncommissioned officer, Jim performed duties as sergeant major of group headquarters, supervised and directed the work of eight civilian and enlisted personnel in the preparation of correspondence, records, forms and reports of six organizations under this command. Mr. Ward was familiar with Army regulations and all phases of military procedure. He was a master sharpshooter, a marksman.

Jim enjoyed making videos and taking photographs of his family. He was an avid Steelers fan, and he enjoyed woodworking, gardening and swimming.

Mr. Ward's family was his proudest accomplishment and traveling throughout the United States and representing Herbalife were very important to him.

Mr. Ward is survived by his wife, Mary Caroline (Groves) Ward, who he married Sept. 19, 1947. He also is survived by one son and his wife, James "Jamie" and Loretta Ward Jr. of Butler; three daughters, Carol and Allan Albright of Butler, Kathleen Matteson of Clarksville, Tenn., and Elisabeth and Edward Oesterling of Butler. His grandchildren include Adam, Joshua, Meganne, Stephanie, Jennifer, Travis, Clay, Lenny, Janna, James III, Michael, William, Eileen-Nicole, Jessica, Courtney, Nicholas, Ashleigh, Bethany and Lesli. Mr. Ward's great-grandchildren include, Shawna, Austin, Nathan, Lydia, Abigail, Matthew, Savannah, Lacey, Dylan, Cody, Devan, Cayden, Alex, Trisha, Trenton, Kaylee, Brittany, Preston, Madison, Kirsten, Mason, Landon, Brandi, Jacob, Justin, Austin, William, Desire, Chelsie, Shania, Cherie, Cheyann, Korbin, Thaddeus, Morgan, Vanessa, Mackensie, Kaylei, Jaxson, Cameron, Allison, Christopher, James, Whittney, Ty and Jaden.

He is survived by three stepbrothers, George Deal, Russ Yockey and Fred Thompson; three stepsisters, Ruth Newcome, Jean Flatt and Jody Thompson; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Mr. Ward was preceded in death by a sister, Marilyn Murdick; two stepbrothers, Roy and Benjamin Groves; and four stepsisters, Kay Webster, Anna Deal, Cora Yockey and Margaret Peters.

<B>WARD</B> — Friends of James Clayton Ward Sr., who died Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2009, will be received from 7 to 9 p.m. today and from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Friday at the <B>Thompson-Miller Funeral Home</B>, 124 E. North St. Services will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at the First Baptist Church of Butler with Pastor David Maitland officiating. Interment will be in the Greenlawn Burial Estates.In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the First Baptist Christian School, 221 W. New Castle St., Butler, PA16001.Information and a private guest book are available at www.thompson-miller.com.