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Obituary (VA): Thomas Martin Ward Jr. '51

Posted on 01/16/2018

Rear Admiral (Ret.) Thomas Martin Ward, Jr., age 89, son of the late Tom and Edith Ward of Rockwood, Tennessee passed into his final rest surrounded by his loving family on Jan. 9th in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The family will receive visitors on Monday, Jan. 15th, from 6-8pm at H.D. Oliver Funeral Apts., 2002 Laskin Road, Virginia Beach. The funeral service will be held Tuesday, Jan. 16th, at 2:00pm. at First Presbyterian Church, 300 36th Street, Virginia Beach with a reception at the church to follow. Internment at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors will occur on a later date.

Tom was born on December 4, 1929 in Pontiac, Michigan and raised in Rockwood, Tennessee. He graduated from Tennessee Military Institute, attended rat year at Virginia Military Institute, Class of 1950B and matriculated with the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland in the summer of 1947 on appointment from Tennessee. Upon graduation with the Class of 1951, he was commissioned as an Ensign and reported to the USS ENGLISH( DD-696) as the First Lieutenant and Gunnery Officer. Shortly thereafter, Tom married the "Peg of his Heart," Miss Peggy Dunn of Knoxville, Tennessee and launched their career in the Navy.

Tom reported to Minesweeping Officers School, followed by tours as Executive Officer aboard the USS TOWHEE (AM-388) and the Commanding Officer of the USS CARDINAL (AMS-4). Tom would continue to serve at sea in destroyers and minesweepers, taking great pride being a 'tin can' sailor. A breather in sea duty sent Tom to the Naval Postgraduate School in the Weapons curriculum followed by a year of further study for a master's degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston. He was then assigned as Weapons Department Head on The USS GYATT (DDG-1). Sea Duty was followed by a tour as the Missile Flight Safety Officer for satellite and ICBM launches from Vandenberg Air Force base and the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Lompoc, California including a TAD assignment for most of 1962 to the Joint Task Force 8 on Johnson Island as the Missile Flight Safety Officer for the last nuclear weapons atmospheric tests.

Following his tour with the Air Force, he served aboard the USS BUCHANON (DDG-14) as the Executive Officer and deployed to the Gulf of Tonkin off the coast of North Vietnam. He returned stateside, attended the Naval War College Command and Staff Course, with a follow on assignment to the Weapons Department at the US Naval Academy teaching weapon system engineering. Tom then took command of the UUS BERKLEY (DDG-15) which included two deployments to the Gulf of Tonkin. Back home, he returned to the Naval War College while concurrently completed the Senior Officers course and earned a master degree in Marine Affairs at the University of Rhode Island. His next assignment was to the Naval Ordinance Systems Command in Washington DC as Project Manager for the NATO Sea Sparrow Surface Missile Systems Project. This was the first successful multinational weapon system development and production project under NATO's aegis, and is still operational today

Tom was subsequently assigned as Commander Destroyer Squadron SEVEN. He returned to Washington DC for duty in The Weapons Systems Directorate of the Naval Sea Systems Command. He was selected for flag rank and transferred to the Office of the DCNO for Surface Warfare as Deputy Commander for surface ship command systems where he served as Chairman to the NSS Steering Committee. His next assignment was to Pearl Harbor as the Commander Naval Surface Forces Middle Pacific. He returned to Washington for his last active duty tour as Deputy Commander for Surface Combatant Ship Programs.

Tom retired in June, 1882 after 31 years of active service and worked for combat system engineering and ships maintenance firms in the tidewater area for ten years. Following a brush with colon cancer, Tom retired from active employment and devoted himself to his family and volunteer activities. He served as an elder at First Presbyterian Church VA Beach where he was an active participant in the Men's Prayer Breakfast group. He became a senior judge with the American Orchid Society and later served as a Trustee for the society. Tom served as Director and later President of the Virginia Beach Beautification Commission. He was a Founding Director of the Virginia Beach Horticultural Foundation and Chairman of the Virginia Flower and Garden Show. Gardening and orchid culture were only two of his passions. He was proud of belonging to The Over the Hill Gang, a group of fellow military and first responder retirees who meet weekly for physical training; he missed their workouts and comradely after a profound stroke seven years ago. His greatest passion was his partner of 67 years, Peggy, his family, lifelong friends, and neighbors on 78th Street and at Westminster-Canterbury.

Tom is survived by the real love of his life, his wife, Peggy, along with their children: Commander (Ret.) and Mrs. David Ward, Major (Ret.) and Mrs. David Brown, Mr. and Mrs. James Ward, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Weldon, Commander (Ret.) Robert Madson and Mrs. Robert Madson, ten grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers memorial gifts may be made to the Men's Prayer Breakfast at First Presbyterian Church or the Naval Academy Foundation. Online condolences may be made at www.hdoliver.com.

 

Published in The Virginian Pilot on Jan. 13, 2018