Dr. Mary Ruth Johnson Ward

She was born in Harrogate, TN on September 6, 1924 to LeRoy and Willa Sarah Mitchell Johnson. Mary grew up on the campus of Lincoln Memorial University where her father was a Professor of Chemistry for some 30 years before his sudden death in 1949. Mary attended Ellen Meyers Elementary School in Harrogate. Bessie Anderson was her first-grade teacher and she was promoted to 3rd grade was taught by Mary Bussel. Other teachers were Miss Stone, Miss Inez Carr, and Mr. Tiller. She graduated from the eighth grade in 1937.

She began high school in 1937 and graduated from Powell Valley High School in Cumberland Gap in 1941. In the fall of that year, she started college at Tennessee Wesleyan College in Athens Tennessee, where her parents had also attended. In December of 1941 the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and WW II began. In the fall of 1942, she returned home and started at LMU where she received her AB degree in 1944.

She took Medical Technologist training at Knoxville General Hospital following college and became a Licensed Medical Technologist (ASCP). Following this she went to Wilmington, NC and was employed by The James Walker Memorial Hospital until after WWII ended in 1945. In 1946 she moved to Memphis and began working on a Master's Degree in Bacteriology at the UT College of Medicine. She decided to go to Medical School and this required additional courses at Southwestern (now Rhodes College) in Memphis and at Memphis State University (now University of Memphis). She entered Medical School in January 1949. Her father died Feb 24, 1949 of a heart attack. She met Dennis Ward, another freshman, over a cadaver in Anatomy Lab on first day of Med School. They married June 19, 1950 at St Andrews Episcopal Church in Maryville, TN. She graduated from Med School in June 1952 rated as number one in her class.

She and Dennis went to Scott and White Memorial Hospital in Temple, Texas for rotating internships from July 1952 to July 1953. Following this they did General Practice in luka, MS until 1956. Two sons were born in 1954; Dennis Earl Ward Jr on Jan 5, and Thomas Roy Ward on Dec 30, 1954 both by Cesearean section at Baptist Hospital in Memphis. In 1956 they moved to Atlanta, GA where Dennis took Gen Surgery Residency for three years while Mary took a Pediatric Residency under Dr Yampolski, a renowned Pediatrician there. While Dennis was completing the third year in Surgery, Mary practiced Pediatrics with Doctors Stone and Dunbar at Forest Park, GA.

On July 1959 they moved to Montgomery, Alabama where Dennis took two years Preceptorship in Gen Surgery at the VA Hospital. Mary began practicing with Dr, William Brock and continued after Edmund Haynes was born September 8, 1959 in Memphis. In the summer of 1961 they moved to Corinth, MS. She practiced there until retirement in 1997. She became a diplomat of the American Board of Pediatrics March 5, 1961 while in Montgomery and a Fellow of The American Academy of Pediatrics Sept 27, 1961.

Mary was Chief Resident in Pediatrics at Georgia Baptist Hospital. In Corinth she served as Chief of Medicine and Chief of Staff at various times at Magnolia Hospital (now Magnolia Regional Medical Center). While in luka and until 1965 in Corinth she was on the staff of Community Hospital and Corinth Hospital. She was a member of NE MS Medical Society, MS State Medical Society, The American Medical Association, Southern Medical Association and the Alcorn County Medical Club. She was twice President of the latter. She was chairman of the drive to vaccinate all children with oral Polio Vaccine in Alcorn County in 1961 soon after their arrival.

In Corinth she was President of the Theater Guild in 1985 and 1986. She was Chairman of The Social Committee of the Corinth Symphony in 1993 and was elected to the Board of Trustees of The Corinth Concert Association in 1994. She became a member of the La Salle Chapter of the DAR in Corinth and served as Regent for three years. She was on the Altar Guild of St Paul's Episcopal Church in Corinth and was a member of Women of The Church. She taught primary classes in Sunday School. Mary was a member of the Little Garden Club of Corinth and also a member of the Shakespeare Club and Den Mother for Cub Scouts for several years.

Mary participated in the Candy Classic Tennis Tournament in Corinth and was an avid player from childhood. She played in the Memphis City Tournaments while in Med School. She won third place in the 8th Annual Tennis Tournaments sponsored by Variety Children's Hospital in Hollywood Florida in 1981 and first place in the Tournament at Ixtapa, Mexico in 1980 sponsored by the Scott and White Alumni Association. In 1971 she took second place in doubles at a tournament in Jackson, MS sponsored by MS State Medical Association.

She was a founding member of the Alcorn County Genealogical Society and served as President. She has a long-standing interest in Genealogy. She and Dennis built a large home and office in Corinth in 1964 and 1965. The home was a center of many entertainments over the years and some great family gatherings. Mary and Dennis moved to Jackson. TN on August 2, 2000 after having retired from practice.

In addition to her husband, Dr. Dennis Earl Ward, Sr., she was preceded in death by a son, Edmund Haynes Ward; and a grandson, Greg Ward.

She is survived by her two sons, Dennis Earl Ward, Jr. (Dale DeLancey Ward) and Thomas Roy Ward (Susan Bugg Ward); a daughter in law, Allison Miller Ward grandchildren David Ward (Laura), Bryan Ward (Cassie) Stephen Ward (Cassie) Jesse Ward, Ricky Ward (Centrice), Emily Knight (Robbie), Clara Ward (Malcolm), Mary Ward, and William Ward, fifteen great grandchildren and one great-great grandchild on the way.

Honorary pallbearers are the grandchildren, David Ward, Bryan Ward, Stephen Ward, Jesse Ward, Ricky Ward, Emily Knight, Clara Ward, Mary Ward, William Ward, and great grandson Kevin Knight.

There will be visitation at the funeral home from 1:00 until 2:00 immediately preceding the graveside service Saturday, October 15, 2022, 2:30 p.m. at Rocky Springs Cemetery in Madison County, TN with Rev. Deacon Tommy Rhoads officiating. In lieu of flowers, memorials should be directed to Rocky Springs Cemetery Association (c/o Dennis Robinson, 55 Stanford Dr., Jackson, TN 38301)

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.GeorgeASmithandSons.com for the Ward family.