Dick Ward

Dick Ward, a retired San Francisco business owner, died peacefully at his son’s home in Athol, Idaho, in early March 2022. An eight-year resident of North Star Retirement Community in Coeur d’Alene, Dick was 89 years old. Dick was born in 1932 in Salem, Ohio, to parents Russell and Margaret Ward, who had a small farm in Berlin Center, Ohio, where Russell was a high school principal and science teacher. Popular and outgoing, Dick played on all the sports teams at his schools, and he later enjoyed boasting that his North Lima High classmates had voted him “Boy with the Best Legs” during his senior year. A member of The Ohio State University’s ROTC program, Dick graduated in 1954 with a degree in education, intending to become a science teacher in his home state once he completed military service. However, a blind date with his future wife, Elizabeth Bowen, disrupted Dick’s plans. The two met in Tokyo, Japan, where Dick served for two years as a lieutenant in the Army Signal Corps. Marrying in Tokyo in 1955, Dick and Elizabeth soon settled in the San Francisco Bay Area and raised three children, and Dick worked as a salesman first for IBM and then for Tab Products in Palo Alto. Because he was both gregarious and analytical, Dick became highly successful at selling office equipment to corporations and government agencies. Throughout his career, he laughingly identified himself as a “peddler.” In the mid-1960s, Dick and two partners, Lee Sweeney and Ed Johnson, opened their own business, Tab Sales of California, based in San Francisco and focused on selling filing systems, office furniture, and the equipment and supplies needed for mainframe computers. Later, they added partner Barry Taylor, changed the company’s name to FACS for Offices, and updated and expanded their product lines. The partners sold their business in the late 1990s, and Dick then traveled often with Elizabeth, refinished antique furniture, and made piles of pancakes for his grandchildren. A long-time resident of Tiburon, California, Dick was for decades an active member of Peace Lutheran Church in nearby Mill Valley. Dick and Elizabeth eventually joined St. Sebastian’s Catholic Church in Greenbrae, and Dick assisted with the church’s St. Vincent de Paul outreach. Dick moved to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, to be near his son and daughter-in-law, Christopher and Beverly Ward, several years after the 2011 death of Elizabeth. There he delighted in riding all-terrain vehicles and boating with his extended family, listening to Big Band music, watching movies and 49ers football games, and pampering his Maltese dogs. Dick’s survivors are his three children, Margaret Koike (Steven), Stephanie Yamada (Garrett), and Christopher Ward (Beverly); eight grandchildren; three great- grandchildren; and niece Rachel Chandramouli (Mahesh). Family members have not yet announced the date and time of a memorial service, but they ask that any memorial gifts be given in Dick Ward’s name to Idaho Catholic Appeal (https://www.osvhub.com/diocese-of-boise/funds) or to Holy Family Catholic School in Coeur d’Alene (https://hfcs-cda.org). Please visit https://belltowerfuneralhome.com/tribute/details/1636/Dick- Ward/condolences.html#content-start to post a memorial message. Finally, the family thanks the staff at North Star Retirement Community and at Hospice of North Idaho for all their help and support.