Donald “Don” Ray and Sharon Ann (Whittaker) Ward have been reunited in heaven; Don passed on February 6, 2022, with Sharon joining him on March 19, 2022.
Don was born October 19, 1942 in Cushing, Oklahoma to Ray Harrison and Roberta Inez (Johnston) Ward. Donnie, as he was lovingly referred to by his mother and grandmother, grew up in Cushing and was a member of the 4H club and won two state awards in 1956: 4H Talk, and Dairy Individual Demonstration – Regular. He then moved to Ripley, graduating from Ripley High in 1960. Don would go on to join the Army National Guard in 1961 (Company 1, 397th regiment, in Ft. Chaffee, Arkansas), rising to the rank of Staff Sergeant in his six years of service. He was married to Lenore Kay Carter of Cushing from 1964 to 1967, and they had one daughter together.
Don and Sharon were married on July 22, 1968, beginning 53 ½ years of adventure together. The pair settled down in Wynnewood, Oklahoma, and together raised their three children. Don spent his early working life as part of the design project team for the Oklahoma Highway Department, which included designing the I-240/I-40 interchange, before dedicating 43 years to the Wynnewood Refinery as a Project Designer.
Deeply devoted to Sharon and their family, Don was the one that the kids knew they could come to with any problem. He wanted to be their safe harbor, no matter what – even if it was just to hear one of his corny dad jokes. The two of them absolutely adored their children, grandchildren, and fur-babies without question.
Don was a very creative man, enjoyed making custom candles, and built each of his older grandchildren their very own custom toy box. He even built display cases for his impressive logo golf ball collection (of which he’d collected over 2000!). He loved cars, and kept a list of all the cars he owned in his life, totaling nearly 150; Sharon always teased him that every time he would take her car for an oil change, he would come home with a different car than the one he left with. He also wanted to give back to his community, acting as the President of the Wynnewood Little League Baseball Association for several years while his boys were growing up, and designed and built the still-standing concession building on the field. For him, a perfect day would be getting in a few rounds of golf before sitting down to cheer on his OU Sooners.
Don is preceded in death by his sisters Carol Swisher and Wanda Swisher, his parents, his grandparents Claude and Addie Ward of Cushing, who owned Ward’s Grocery, and by his cousin Keith Moffat.
He is survived by his children: Stacy Hardin, husband Randy, of Midland, Texas; Tammy Howell of Wynnewood, Oklahoma; Brian Ward, wife Shana, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Alan Ward, wife Steffany, of Purcell, Oklahoma; grandchildren Delanie, Shelby, Deighton, Dannyn, Landon, Riley, Ryder, Maddox, Ian, Molly, and Sophia; great-grandchild Evie; his aunt Hazel Ward Moffat Cusac; nine nieces, seven nephews, and fur-babies Skamper, Gidget, and Onyx.
A visitation for Don and his wife will be held on Friday April 1, 2022 at Chapel Hill Funeral Home from 4:00-8:00pm. Joint services for the Wards will be held Saturday April 2, 2022 at 2:00 p.m. at Chapel Hill Funeral Home, 8701 N.W. Expressway, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.chapelhill-okc. com for the Ward family.
