Ulysses Ward
They say it takes a village to raise a child. It also takes a village for that child to reach the age of 100.
Luck plays a role, and so does the will of God, said Ulysses Ward of Masury, who turned 100 on July 29. The healthcare system has something to do with longevity, and then there is how the person has lived his or her life. Ward will always be associated with sports in Brookfield, and he chalks up his life-long interest in sports with helping make his life long.
“I guess that was the only bad habit I had in life,” Ward said of athletics. “I didn’t run around, I didn’t drink, I didn’t smoke. I was raised as a kid where, if you played sports, you didn’t drink, you didn’t smoke, you took care of yourself. It kind of stuck with me.”
Ward’s family hosted a celebration that attracted about 200 people, and the Brookfield trustees approved a proclamation making July 29 “Ulysses Ward Day.”
A member of the Brookfield Warrior Hall of Fame for his contributions to local athletics, Ward spent 40 years as a baseball coach, umpire and league official. Field 3 at Brookfield Township Community Park is named in his honor.
Ward also officiated basketball games, supported the Brookfield High School Band and volunteered for local service organizations. He has been honored by the Buhl Day committee, the Brookfield band, Brookfield Rotary Club, Brookfield Optimist Club and the NAACP.
“Mr. Ward is a great man, a great leader in our community,” township Trustee Dan Suttles said.
Ward was born in Sharon and was taken to South Carolina to live with his grandparents after his mother, Ethel, died when he was 2 or 3. His father, Sylvester, went along with the arrangement for seven years, but brought Ward and Ward’s brother back to live with him.
Ward served in the army in World War II and came back home and married his childhood friend, the former Francis Flemon of Masury. They raised three kids and Ward worked at Shenango Inc. in Sharpsville, which made ingot molds, starting as a laborer and retiring as head of the shipping department.
Francis died in 2020 at age 91.
Ward said his health is “fine” but he can’t walk without a walker and spends most of his days in the home on Davis Street he has lived in for 67 years. One of his children or grandchildren checks up on him every day. His neighbors and friends also come around.
He tries to spend one or two days a week at Jim Logan’s screenprint shop, enjoying meeting the people who come in to conduct business with Logan or chat, and Logan will drive him down to the park when there’s a ball game going on.
Church has always been essential to his life and he still goes to Ruth African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in Sharon about once a month. He has attended there for 93 years.
There are many things in life Ward wishes were different: he wishes that more people went to church, more kids played outside and participated in sports, people spent less time on their phones or watching television, and neighbors spent more time getting together with each other.
He finds it incomprehensible that he has a grandson who has a full-time job – and works from home four days a week.
But, he realizes that change happens and seems to be happening more quickly.
“A lot different than it was even five years ago,” he said of society. “Each year brings on something different. You just have to change with the times – complain and change.”
