Arlene Mae Ward

Arlene Mae (Weaver, Melander) Ward, age 81, died Saturday, April 15, 2017. In her final days, her room was filled with stories and laughter as she was lovingly surrounded by her children. She was born on March 16, 1936 in Ballston Spa, New York to Myron Weaver and Permelia (Mundell, Weaver) Butler. Arlene graduated from Ballston Spa High School and worked as a bookkeeper with Tufflite Plastics. She later owned and operated Floral Fashions in Ballston Spa. In 1972, after a fire destroyed her home and her business, she left all her friends and family and boldly relocated her family across the country to Orlando, Florida. Living most of her life as a single mother, Arlene worked multiple jobs to care for her seven children. In addition to being a floral designer, she had a newspaper route, sold copy supplies, bartended and did telemarketing. She was a strong, moral woman who taught her children to be independent, hard-working adults. She was very proud of all of their individual accomplishments. She was an avid reader and, forever the romantic, her favorite book was “Gone with the Wind.” She was a strong Scrabble player and loved playing whenever possible. She also liked to knit and crochet and was often in various stages of completion for multiple projects. She was an early adopter of technology and loved playing Tetris and Zelda with her son, Tim, when he was a teenager. She had a computer and a Facebook account and was active online until a few years ago. In her later years, she enjoyed playing Bingo and looked forward to her family joining her from time-to-time.

She was preceded in death by her parents, brother James Weaver, sisters Alice Gray and Beverly Clairmont and son Ricky Melander. She is survived by her sisters, Merrillyn Capone (Dicey) and Joan McCarty, and brothers Richard Weaver and Keith (Clyde) Weaver (Charlene). She was also survived by her children Debbie Miller (David), Chris Melander, Jackie Aikens (Tom), David Melander, Sally Kobylinski (John), Jenifer Harris (Pat) and Tim Ward (Jennifer), fourteen grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.

Arrangements are being handled by Baldwin Fairchild Funeral Home. Visitation will be Friday, April 21, 2017 at Baldwin Fairchild Ivanhoe from 5-7 pm and the Service will be at Summit Church - Lake Mary on Saturday, April 22, 2017 at 2:00 pm.