Obituary for Moses Paul Ward
Moses Paul Ward, nearly 90, of Chelmsford, MA passed away peacefully on Holy Thursday, April 6, 2023 with his loving family by his side. Known affectionately as “Moe” to his friends & neighbors, “Paul” in his woodcarving world, and “Moses” to his late wife, parents and doctors’ office staff, he will be forever remembered as “Jiddo” to his closest family.
A man of deep faith and pride in his Maronite Catholic heritage, he rarely ever had a bad word to say about anyone – in fact he rarely ever even said a bad word out loud. One rewarding philosophy on life is to aim to act saint-like every day, by being kind to everyone, focusing on helping all around you, and caring for friends and strangers ahead of yourself. There are few people on this planet more deserving of saint-like status than our dad. To give a sense of the depth of his caring, we don’t have to look further than his garbage can. Recently when someone pulled out his nearly full kitchen trash bag to take it outside, he stopped them and asked to leave it until pickup day. He didn’t want to overstress the garbageman by making him lift the whole container, as it’s easier to just pull one bag out of the barrel and toss it in the truck.
While in the hospital, a priest came by and dad asked if he could hear his confession because last week he thought of something he did 70 years ago while he was in the Marines and it might be a sin. Now we doubt it was even a sin because afterwards he just said the priest told him “you’re all set – you’re a good man and it wasn’t that bad.”
Dad always talked about how his life was split into thirds. In his first 30 years he was born and raised in Boston, MA, son of the late Joseph Ward who emigrated from Lebanon, and Ruth (Eblan) Ward. He graduated from Boston Latin High School and joined the United States Marines, serving our country from 1953-1956 before receiving his B.A in Psychology from Boston College and his M.A in Education from Boston State University. Over the next 30 years he was married to Mariam (Baddour) Ward, raised 4 kids and worked for the Boston Public School system as a Special Education teacher and Evaluation Team Leader for Dearborn Middle School in Dorchester and Samuel Mason School in Roxbury, before he retired in 1996. In his last 30 years during retirement he was blissfully blessed, living comfortably and independently after his wife’s death. He thoroughly enjoyed his many hobbies which he shared with his cousins who were among his lifelong best friends. An avid Boston Red Sox fan, he never missed watching a game. He also loved fishing off Plum Island, playing (losing) the slots at Mohegan Sun, maintaining his large backyard garden, listening to opera music, writing poetry, and inspiring his grandchildren. And every year, for over three decades, he would hand carve 80-90 Christmas ornaments and create an accompanying poem to send to all his extended family and friends.
Speaking of carving, he was best known for his thousands of woodcarvings and his home was filled with his personal artistic creations ranging from whittled knickknacks to life-sized six-foot statues. He was a member of the New England Woodcarvers Association for nearly a half-century, serving several terms as its president. His hand-carved wooden statues can be found in churches all over the United States, and he donated a large number of his pieces to his family parish, Our Lady of the Cedars of Lebanon Church in Jamaica Plain, MA. More recently, he was also very active at St. Andrew’s Roman Catholic Church in Billerica near his home.
He is survived by his son, Al Ward and wife Jane of Westford, MA, and daughters, Maryalice Dunne of Pelham,¬ NH, Rosanne Bingham and husband Gary of Wells, ME, and Ruth Amy (Amy) Hurley and husband Michael, of Worcester, MA. He is also survived by his eight loving grandchildren who were truly his pride and joy; Patrick, Colin and Erin Dunne, Ryan Bingham, Mitchel and Garrett Hurley, Jason and Rebecca Ward, as well as four bonus grandchildren, Greg, Maranda, Crystal and Abel Bingham. He also leaves behind one brother, Ronald Ward and his wife Sadie of Roslindale, MA. He was predeceased too soon by his aforementioned loving wife of 30 years and mother of his children, Mariam (Baddour) Ward, his beautiful sister Miriam (Ward) Nadar, and his beloved brother Joseph Ward. He was also predeceased by his warm-hearted, faith-filled son-in-law Kenneth Dunne.
Our family would like to express appreciation to those who helped care for him through his brief battle with cancer. Thank you to the wonderful staff at the Lowell General ICU and High Pointe Hospice House for the skilled care and compassion they provided to him and the family at the end of his life. Special thanks to Petra at the Visiting Angels & Veteran’s Administration, who allowed him to live independently in his own home up until the last week of his life; and Larry from St. Andrew’s Church who regularly visited him at home for prayer, communion, and friendly conversation.
Visiting Hours will be held on Tuesday, April 11, 2023, from 4 – 7 pm at the Blake Chelmsford Funeral Home, 24 Worthen St., Chelmsford. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Wednesday, April 12, at 10 am at Our Lady of the Cedars of Lebanon Church, 61 Rockwood Street, Jamaica Plain. KINDLY GATHER AT THE CHURCH. Interment will be held privately. In lieu of flowers, he undoubtedly would prefer that everyone do something nice for someone else today, and say a prayer that he gets to heaven quickly. If you feel compelled to do even more to honor him, then he’d likely be okay with donations sent to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, one of his favorite charities.
Mom, we’ve all missed you greatly, and have done our best to help Dad enjoy these past 30 years on earth without you. You have him back now, together for eternity.
A man of deep faith and pride in his Maronite Catholic heritage, he rarely ever had a bad word to say about anyone – in fact he rarely ever even said a bad word out loud. One rewarding philosophy on life is to aim to act saint-like every day, by being kind to everyone, focusing on helping all around you, and caring for friends and strangers ahead of yourself. There are few people on this planet more deserving of saint-like status than our dad. To give a sense of the depth of his caring, we don’t have to look further than his garbage can. Recently when someone pulled out his nearly full kitchen trash bag to take it outside, he stopped them and asked to leave it until pickup day. He didn’t want to overstress the garbageman by making him lift the whole container, as it’s easier to just pull one bag out of the barrel and toss it in the truck.
While in the hospital, a priest came by and dad asked if he could hear his confession because last week he thought of something he did 70 years ago while he was in the Marines and it might be a sin. Now we doubt it was even a sin because afterwards he just said the priest told him “you’re all set – you’re a good man and it wasn’t that bad.”
Dad always talked about how his life was split into thirds. In his first 30 years he was born and raised in Boston, MA, son of the late Joseph Ward who emigrated from Lebanon, and Ruth (Eblan) Ward. He graduated from Boston Latin High School and joined the United States Marines, serving our country from 1953-1956 before receiving his B.A in Psychology from Boston College and his M.A in Education from Boston State University. Over the next 30 years he was married to Mariam (Baddour) Ward, raised 4 kids and worked for the Boston Public School system as a Special Education teacher and Evaluation Team Leader for Dearborn Middle School in Dorchester and Samuel Mason School in Roxbury, before he retired in 1996. In his last 30 years during retirement he was blissfully blessed, living comfortably and independently after his wife’s death. He thoroughly enjoyed his many hobbies which he shared with his cousins who were among his lifelong best friends. An avid Boston Red Sox fan, he never missed watching a game. He also loved fishing off Plum Island, playing (losing) the slots at Mohegan Sun, maintaining his large backyard garden, listening to opera music, writing poetry, and inspiring his grandchildren. And every year, for over three decades, he would hand carve 80-90 Christmas ornaments and create an accompanying poem to send to all his extended family and friends.
Speaking of carving, he was best known for his thousands of woodcarvings and his home was filled with his personal artistic creations ranging from whittled knickknacks to life-sized six-foot statues. He was a member of the New England Woodcarvers Association for nearly a half-century, serving several terms as its president. His hand-carved wooden statues can be found in churches all over the United States, and he donated a large number of his pieces to his family parish, Our Lady of the Cedars of Lebanon Church in Jamaica Plain, MA. More recently, he was also very active at St. Andrew’s Roman Catholic Church in Billerica near his home.
He is survived by his son, Al Ward and wife Jane of Westford, MA, and daughters, Maryalice Dunne of Pelham,¬ NH, Rosanne Bingham and husband Gary of Wells, ME, and Ruth Amy (Amy) Hurley and husband Michael, of Worcester, MA. He is also survived by his eight loving grandchildren who were truly his pride and joy; Patrick, Colin and Erin Dunne, Ryan Bingham, Mitchel and Garrett Hurley, Jason and Rebecca Ward, as well as four bonus grandchildren, Greg, Maranda, Crystal and Abel Bingham. He also leaves behind one brother, Ronald Ward and his wife Sadie of Roslindale, MA. He was predeceased too soon by his aforementioned loving wife of 30 years and mother of his children, Mariam (Baddour) Ward, his beautiful sister Miriam (Ward) Nadar, and his beloved brother Joseph Ward. He was also predeceased by his warm-hearted, faith-filled son-in-law Kenneth Dunne.
Our family would like to express appreciation to those who helped care for him through his brief battle with cancer. Thank you to the wonderful staff at the Lowell General ICU and High Pointe Hospice House for the skilled care and compassion they provided to him and the family at the end of his life. Special thanks to Petra at the Visiting Angels & Veteran’s Administration, who allowed him to live independently in his own home up until the last week of his life; and Larry from St. Andrew’s Church who regularly visited him at home for prayer, communion, and friendly conversation.
Visiting Hours will be held on Tuesday, April 11, 2023, from 4 – 7 pm at the Blake Chelmsford Funeral Home, 24 Worthen St., Chelmsford. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Wednesday, April 12, at 10 am at Our Lady of the Cedars of Lebanon Church, 61 Rockwood Street, Jamaica Plain. KINDLY GATHER AT THE CHURCH. Interment will be held privately. In lieu of flowers, he undoubtedly would prefer that everyone do something nice for someone else today, and say a prayer that he gets to heaven quickly. If you feel compelled to do even more to honor him, then he’d likely be okay with donations sent to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, one of his favorite charities.
Mom, we’ve all missed you greatly, and have done our best to help Dad enjoy these past 30 years on earth without you. You have him back now, together for eternity.