David Minton Ward

David Minton Ward of Marblehead, MA, passed away on Tuesday, January 28, 2014 at the Kaplan Family Hospice House, Danvers, after a long and arduous battle with cancer. Born April 21, 1955 in Glen Cove, New York, David grew up in Port Washington, NY with summers spent on Shelter Island, off the tip of Long Island.

Stan Getz once remarked, “There are four qualities essential to a great jazzman. They are taste, courage, individuality, and irreverence.” David brought all those qualities not only to his music, but also to his life-at-large. After graduating from the Stockbridge School in Massachusetts, he studied piano at Berklee College of Music in Boston and throughout his life music was his touchstone. Early on he also became engrossed in software design, and spent his career creating programs for a broad range of high-tech and blue chip companies. In 1991 he launched the first of several firms dedicated to software design for the horseracing industry, combining a third passion with his technical creative skills.

A raconteur extraordinaire, unparalleled mimic and wit, David was also a proud and loving father and a loyal friend. He leaves his cherished son, Nathaniel “Natty” of Marblehead and Ann Arbor, Michigan, his beloved life companion Elizabeth Evans Haynie of Manchester-by-the-Sea, his mother Ruth Morrow of Chapel Hill, NC, his father F. Thomas Ward, Jr. (Cornelia) of Sedona, AZ, sister Ellen Waterman Ward and sister-in-law Cynthia Bedient of Palm Harbor, FL, brothers Thomas Wilkinson Ward of Port Washington, NY and William Ward of Oaxaca, Mexico, his former wife Laura Jaeger Ward of Marblehead, loving relatives and friends, and the deepest gratitude for the life of recovery he lived for 36 years.

A memorial service will be held on Monday, February 3, 2014 at 11AM in the Old North Church, 35 Washington Street, Marblehead. Interment will be private. In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory may be sent to the Nathaniel Ward Education Fund, c/o National Grand Bank, 91 Pleasant Street, Marblehead, MA 01945, or to the American Cancer Society, 30 Speen Street, Framingham, MA 01701.