CONWAY — CONWAY - John Ward, a senior aide to the late Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller and aformer journalist and educator, has died. He was 81.
Wa r d - whose retirement home was in the tiny Van Buren County townof Bee Branch, not far from his Damascus birthplace - died Thursday of complications from lymphoma, according to his obituary.
Ward was director of public relations for Winthrop Rockefeller from 1964-71 and was Rockefeller’s campaign manager during his first successful re-election campaign.
Ward later was campaign manager for Rockefeller’s son, the late Winthrop Paul Rockefeller, in his successful bid to become Arkansas’ lieutenant governor in 1996.
Ward served on the board of the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation and was its chair-man for four years. He also was chairman of the Winthrop Rockefeller Distinguished Lectures Committee and was a director of The Oxford American literary magazine.
In January 2005, he was named director of marketing and public relations for the Winthrop Rockefeller Center, now the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute, at Petit Jean Mountain near Morrilton.
In a statement, Lisenne Rockefeller, Winthrop Paul Rockefeller’s widow, said, “John Ward has been a valued counselor and long time friend of the family and will be missed. His family and [his wife] Betty are in our prayers.”
In Little Rock, the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation noted on its website that Ward was a longtime friend, chief of staff and official biographer of the late governor.
Ward wrote two books on the governor, The Arkansas Rockefeller and Winthrop Rockefeller, Philanthropist: A Life of Change.
“In addition to a full career in journalism, Ward was primarily responsible for documenting the early investments and lasting legacy of Governor Rockefeller,” the foundation said. “Ward’s contributions to our understanding of Governor Rockefeller’s philanthropic strategies and giving priorities continue to help guide our grant making to this day.”
In a 1996 interview, Ward said Rockefeller “was a fascinating man to work for.”
“He was concerned Arkansans didn’t have a high enough opinion of themselves,” Ward related. “He called it a mass inferiority complex.” Ward was managing editor of the Log Cabin Democrat in Conway for 12 years. In the 1996 interview, he said the biggest news story during his tenure involved a Titan II missile explosion in Damascus that killed one man and badly injured another.
Ward later served on the faculty of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, where he taught journalism and became director of information services for the University of Arkansas System.
In 1988, Ward was named vice president for public affairs at the University of Central Arkansas and held that job for eight years. While there, he taught journalism and was president of the UCA Foundation.
UCA President Tom Courtway described Ward as “an incredible man who served his state, community and UCA in so many ways.”
“From the giving of his time, his financial resources, to just being a good friend, he enriched our lives and meant a lot to UCA,” Courtway said. “His wit, smile, knowledge of all things about Arkansas, and his love for UCA will be missed by all of us.”
Ward also helped launch Toad Suck Daze, an annual Conway festival. In a 2006 interview, he said that he came up with the idea in the early 1980s after talking with Dennis Schick, a former executive director of the Arkansas Press Association.
“He said, ‘Why don’t y’all have some kind of celebration at Conway?’” Ward remembered.
So, after talking with his brother Bill Ward, John Ward came up with the name Toad Suck Days. They decided to make it “Daze” instead “to represent the euphoria of spring,” he said in the interview.
Conway Mayor Tab Townsell called Ward “a prince ofa fellow” who was intelligent and wise.
“I sat down with him and spoke to him at length before ... I ran for mayor the first time,” Townsell said Friday. “He was a trusted community-minded person” in his roles with the Log Cabin Democrat, the festival, UCA and other areas. “It’s a loss, but surely it’s a life welllived.”
Ward was born Dec. 17, 1930, one of eight children to the late Rev. Roy Ward and Mamie Ward.
As he looked at a picture of his father sitting in the White House, Ward’s son, Barry, said Friday that “for all [his father’s] accomplishments, he really loved the simple things, like sitting on his deck overlooking his pond and just watching thewildlife” as he drank coffee.
John Ward also loved his dogs, including the one he owned at the time of his death - Glory, “an old bird dog that somebody dumped up here, and he adopted her,” his sonsaid.
Ward was also a gospel singer. At one time, he was a professional musician. He was also a high school band director in Hampton before he entered journalism.
Among Ward’s other accomplishments was founding the Institute of Politics and Government in Arkansas.
He received the Distinguished Service Award from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. He was a charter member of the Arkansas Chapter of Sigma Delta Chi, Society of Professional Journalists, and served as its president.
In addition to his wife and son, Ward is survived by a daughter, Jenifer Ward of Seattle; a daughter-in-law, Kristin Ward of Little Rock; his brothers Joe and Bill Ward; and his sisters Loweta Turney and Judy Roach.
He was preceded in death by his brothers Bobby and Gary “Butch” Ward and a sister, Marketa Evans.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 11 on 12/01/2012