Jerome Earl Ward Sr. was born on March 13, 1937, in Gary, Indiana. He is the son of the late Ernest Ward and Vera Hood (Ward).
He was a well-known, all-around athlete, dominating basketball and track, as well as a football star at Roosevelt High School. His nicknames were Fleet Feet, Motor, and Tank. He played in the 1955 Indiana High School boys Basketball State Championship game, against Crispus Attucks from Indianapolis, IN. For the first time in U.S. history, these two all-Black high schools competed for a state championship title. This game starred future NBA great “The Big O,” Oscar Robertson. Having an athletic domination, Jerome Earl Ward Sr. received a full scholarship to Indiana University.
Mr. Ward and his wife, Gloria Avis Ward (Reeves), moved their family to Rochester, New York, in 1960. They developed Jerome E. Ward Realty, one of the first African American real estate companies in Rochester, NY. They are both in heaven with God, smiling and dancing.
Jerome E. Ward Sr. is preceded by his wife, Gloria Ward; his parents Ernest Ward and Vera Hood (Ward); his stepmom Margaree Ward; his brothers Thomas Ward and James Ward; and sister Phyllis Ward-Gant.
Mr. Ward is survived by his son Jerome Ward Jr. (Candice); daughters Darian Ward, Karen Ward-Wilder (Albert) and Renee Tyler (Mark); his brother Jeffrey Ward; sister Earline Sumrall-Dixon; his grandsons Jerome Ward 3rd (Yolanda), Jameel Shums-Ward (Jacklyn), Ashanti Wilder, Julian Tyler, Jordan Tyler; six great-grandsons, and two great-granddaughters. He is also survived by a host of other relatives.
Jerome E. Ward Sr. will be remembered as a man of God who loved his family, friends, and, humbly with the utmost honor, served his community.
Services were held on Friday, March 3, at New Life Fellowship Church located at 330 Wellington Ave. in Rochester, New York. Wake at 10 a.m. and Homegoing Service at 11 a.m.
