Thomas F. Tommy Ward

Tom grew up with his brother and sister on an eighty-acre farm in Newbury Township. He was a 1961 graduate of Newbury High School. As a youngster, he was fascinated with the mechanical workings of engines, and by the time he was a teenager, he was rebuilding cars in the backyard. “Tom was so skilled he could practically reassemble a car blind folded,” his brother said. “The only problem was, he drove Dad nuts with all the car parts lying in the driveway and in the barn.” Tom’s tinkerings eventually led him to building high performance drag racers. During the early 70’s, while he was traveling the racing circuit, Tom recognized the need within the racing community for lightweight, custom-made automotive body components. He went into business designing and hand-building fiberglass body parts for racecars. Particularly popular were his hoods and air-scoops. His artistry was in such demand even the Ford Motor Company was among his list of clients. After selling the fiberglass business, he became a truck driver for the State of Ohio and later Manfredi Motor Transit in Newbury and Troy Manufacturing in Troy. When Tom wasn’t hauling material over America’s highways, he ran a small side business cleaning tank trucks and selling related cleaning supplies to the trucking industry. This part-time venture became so successful that he decided to slide out from behind the wheel of those big rigs and into the driver’s seat of “Ward Sales”. Tom operated the business for several years until his health began to fail. Survivors include his son Thomas F. Ward, Jr., mother Grace (Gates) Ward of Newbury Twp., brother William W. (Mary Cseplo) Ward III of Newbury Twp., sister Deborah (Peter) Gulyas of Cleveland Hts. and nephew Everett Cseplo-Ward of Newbury Twp. His father William W. Ward, II and sister Pamela Alice Ward are ddeceased.