Mary Lou Ward

Mary Lou passed away peacefully the evening of June 20 at Sunrise of La Jolla, her home for the past 5 years. There she was visited often by family and friends, and enjoyed the company of fellow residents and wonderful caretakers. Mary Lou (" Mickey" in her younger days) was a cheerful, energetic, down-to-earth person with strong Midwestern roots. Born in Oklahoma to Grace and Laurence Stafford, she moved to southern Illinois at age 6, graduating from Salem Community High School in 1951. She then relocated to the big city -St. Louis- to attend the renowned "Miss Hickey's School for Secretaries", where she mastered, among other things the enviable and confounding skill of shorthand, which she made good use of for the next 60 years. During her working years in St. Louis she made life-long friends and thoroughly enjoyed her experience working for the Rotary Club. She was set up on a blind date with Donald Ward whom she married in 1960, at St. Teresa's in Salem. After their first daughter was born, Mary Lou and Don decided to make the trek west, and settled in sleepy La Jolla in 1964 to open a travel business. In La Jolla, Mary Lou threw herself whole-heartedly into raising her four daughters- Martha ("Anne"), Liz, Carol and Leslie ("Kate"), and was very involved with All Hallows Catholic Church, and many other charities and community groups. She loved to sing, whether it was church choir, as a member of the "Soledad Singers"or just belting out bits of old showtunes in the kitchen while making dinner. She enjoyed travel, especially the numerous trips she and Don took abroad with close friends. Mary Lou was also very social and loved to chat, whether over donuts and coffee after mass, during an evening with bridge club, or on her frequent long walks with friends. Mary Lou will be missed terribly be her sister, Pat Larimer, of Salem, Illinois, numerous nieces, nephews and friends, and her four daughters and their families: Anne and Derek Watanabe (Emma, Luke, Clare) of Issaquah, WA; Liz and Greg Bass(Lana, Evie, Sylvie) of La Jolla;Carol and Daren Courter (Adam, Kate, Jenna) of Fremont, CA; and Kate Ward of San Diego.