Eugene Elbert Ward, a retired teacher and prisons administrator, died of congestive heart failure Monday at the Joseph Richey Hospice. The Catonsville resident was 93.
A Baltimore native who was raised in South Baltimore, Mr. Ward was a 1937 graduate of Frederick Douglass Senior High School. During World War II he served in the Army and fought in the South Pacific at Okinawa, the Philippines and Iwo Jima.
After the war, he earned a bachelor's degree in English and social studies at Storer College in Harpers Ferry, W.Va., and was later a president of its alumni association.
"My father was passionate about keeping the name and history of Storer College alive by re-energizing the alumni association through financial gifts and personal diligence," said his daughter, Grace E. Mack of Baltimore.
He also had a master's degree from American University, and in 1973 he earned a second master's degree in corrections administration at Coppin State College, now Coppin State University.
As a young man, he was a teacher and librarian at Page Jackson School in Charles Town, W.Va., and later worked for the Veterans Administration and for the Children's Center in Laurel. He taught English at Booker T. Washington Junior High and Clifton Park Junior High, and was a recreation leader in Baltimore City and Baltimore County.
Many years ago, he joined the Maryland Division of Correction as a counselor and advanced to senior supervisor, where he oversaw the classification program at the House of Correction in Jessup.
Mr. Ward served as commissioner of the Boy Scouts' Old Glory District. He was a member of the Catonsville Civic League, a life member of the NAACP and the National Republican Party. Family members said he was a "outspoken member" of the Maryland Classified Employees Association. He was a 57-year member of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity.
Mr. Ward enjoyed sports and competed in competitive bridge tournaments as a life master. He was president of the Double Finesse Club and belonged to the Two and Four Bridge Club.
A tenor, he sang in Baltimore's Town Choir and the Tabor Presbyterian Choir in Washington, and toured Nova Scotia annually.
Services will be held at 10:30 a.m. today at Metropolitan United Methodist Church, 1121 W. Lanvale St., where he had been a trustee, choir president and administrative board chairman, among other posts.
In addition to his daughter, survivors include his wife of 59 years, the former Constance H. Dent; four other daughters, Barbara Ann Kelliebrew of Washington, Veda Ward of Woodland Hills, Calif., Gene Foard of Atlanta, and Deena Speights-Napata of Baltimore; nine grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.
jacques.kelly@baltsun.com