Frederick Yates Ward

Frederick Yates Ward, of Bel Air, MD, died on April 1, 2009 at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. He was 81. Born in Boone, NC in 1928, he was the son of the late Walter Lucky Ward and Eliza Yates Ward and husband of the late Joan Eccles Ward. He moved to Harford County in 1930 and was valedictorian and senior class president of the Bel Air High School Class of 1945. He entered the U.S. Army as World War II was coming to a close and served in the Pacific Theater until 1948, attaining the rank of staff sergeant. After being discharged, he attended the University of Maryland on the GI Bill, and graduated second in his class in civil engineering in 1954. Less than six months following graduation, he married college sweetheart Joan Eccles. The following year, he opened a land surveying office, Sutcliffe & Ward in Bel Air, which became Frederick Ward Associates in 1957. This business quickly progressed from its modest beginnings to become one of the region's premiere engineering, architecture, and surveying design firms. FWA led the way in development design as Harford County grew through the 1960s through the 1970s and beyond. In the 1970s, Fred also led the redevelopment of Downtown Bel Air by purchasing and renovating numerous old properties along Main Street when no one else would risk the investment. Professionally, Fred's career focused on land surveying, and he became an industry leader, serving as president of the Maryland Society of Surveyors, receiving the society's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000, holding a position on Maryland's Licensing Board for Professional Surveyors for many years, and founding a scholarship for land surveying at Towson University.

Mr. Ward is survived by his sons, Byron Ward, and wife Anne-Marie of Apple Valley, CA and Craig Ward, and wife M. Teresa Garland of Bel Air, MD; daughter, Tracy Kolesov, and husband Boris of Bel Air, MD; sister, Mary Helen Cooper of Harker Heights, TX; and grandchildren, James Ward, Catherine Ward, Adam Yates Ward, Laurie Sweeney and Caroline Pugsley.

In addition to his wife and parents, he was predeceased by siblings, Edward Ward, Howard Ward, Frank Ward, John Ward, R. Walter Ward and Jessie Morrison.

In lieu of flowers, a contribution can be made to Towson University Foundation, Fred and Joan Ward Scholarship, Account 40245, 8000 York Road, Towson, MD 21252.