Grace Eleanor Gates Ward

Grace Eleanor Gates Ward, age 84, of Newbury Township, died Sept. 1, 2009, at her residence.She was born Oct. 8, 1924, in Columbia, S.C. to the late Willie and Cora (Boland) Gates.Grace Gates was just 16 years old in 1941, when she and her future husband met at McCrorry’s Five and Dime, where she worked as a checkout clerk in Columbia, S.C. He was a young professional ball player named Bill Ward who was in Columbia for spring training with the Columbia Reds, Cincinnati’s farm team in the South Atlantic League. Bill and some of the other ball players stopped by the store one evening, Grace said. He was the most handsome thing I ever laid eyes on.Bill and Grace were married in Columbia in 1943, and moved to Ohio where they bought an old farmhouse on 80 acres in Newbury Township. With plans to start a family, Mr. Ward gave up baseball and joined the family industrial lubricants business in Cleveland.Because of their contributions to civic, church and government organizations, by the mid-60’s the Ward’s were often referred to as Mr. and Mrs. Newbury. While Bill was busy serving on the school board, Booster’s Club and Zoning Board of Appeals, Grace was active on the PTA, the Garden Club and Newbury United Community Church, where she served as the first woman moderator in the church’s long history. She also helped spearhead fundraising efforts for the construction of Geauga Community Hospital and was chairwoman of the Newbury Auditorium Committee. In her spare time, she even taught etiquette classes at Newbury High School.After her children were grown, Grace expanded her philanthropic activities becoming a motivating force behind the local chapter of the American Cancer Society and the Geauga Mental Health Association. She was particularly proud to have served as president of the Geauga County Republican Women’s Club.She is survived by her children, William (Mary Cseplo) Ward III of Newbury and Deborah (Peter) Gulyas of Cleveland Heights; sister, Beatrice Wilson of Columbia, S.C.; and grandchildren, Everett Cseplo-Ward of Newbury Township and Thomas Ward Jr. of Mantua.She was preceded in death by her husband, William Ward Jr.; children, Pamela and Thomas Ward; and her parents.