Nicely Ward's Obituary
Nicely Harvey Ward passed away on Thursday, February 22, 2018. A viewing will be held at the Charles L. Stevens Funeral Home Inc., 1501 E. Fort Avenue, Locust Point, MD on Tuesday, February 27th from 3-5pm & 7-9pm. A service, officiated by Nicely’s grandson Pastor Matthew Ward, will be held at the Charles L. Stevens Funeral Home on Wednesday, February 28th at 10am, followed by the interment in Emory United Methodist Church Cemetery, 1600 Emory Road, Upperco, MD. A luncheon will follow the interment.
Nicely was the daughter of Alonzo and Mary Harvey. She was born in White Oak, West Virginia on Tuesday, January 3, 1933. Her dad was a school teacher and her mom was a bee-keeper. Nicely was the youngest of four children. One of her most notable childhood chores was to retrieve water from the well every morning.
Academically, Nicely was a standout student. She only spent three weeks in the 1st Grade and was promoted to the 2nd Grade shortly thereafter. High School was no different for Nicely. In fact, the local elementary schools would often call upon her to be a “fill-in” substitute teacher. Despite the time commitment involved in this engagement, on top of caring for her ill parents, Nicely found a way to remain committed to her own studies. At one point in the 11th Grade, she received a report card with all 99% marks. This was unprecedented given the fact that her specific high school never gave out 100% grades.
On a Saturday in 1949, Nicely was shopping at a G.C. Murphy (five-and-dime, variety store) when she turned around to confront a man that had been following her all day. The man introduced himself as ‘Eugene’, and they struck up a conversation. Wanting to continue the conversation, Nicely invited Eugene to come to her house the following Saturday. Little did she know, her father Alonzo and her new acquaintance Eugene would unknowingly meet each other on a mutual bus ride. Nicely’s father Alonzo, who was usually very protective of his daughters, made an exception for Eugene (who was on his way to see Nicely). With the seal of approval having been granted, Nicely quickly fell in love with Eugene. The next year, on May 12th, 1950 the two got married in Hinton, West Virginia. Eugene made two promises to Nicely upon their marriage. Promise #1: She would never have to carry buckets of water from the well again. Promise #2: She would never have to carry firewood again.
To make good on those two promises, and to avoid the coal-mining industry, Nicely and Eugene eventually settled in Maryland’s largest city, Baltimore. Coincidentally, a family member had predicted that Nicely and Eugene would have nine kids (because the two of them collectively had 9 pennies in their pants’ pockets upon being engaged to be married). Though this prediction may have been hard to fathom at the time, it actually came true. The first three children they had were boys. This was followed by five girls in a row. One more boy, the youngest child Mark, was born in April of 1963. The family loved their city life and there was never a shortage of people around or things to do.
In addition to raising her nine children, Nicely served as a crossing guard for the City of Baltimore for over two-and-half decades. Cal Ripken Jr. might be known as the IronMan of the Baltimore Sports world, but Nicely was the IronWoman of her crossing guard force, having never taken a sick day in her twenty-seven year tenure. Whether it was her own children, or other people’s children, Nicely’s love had no end. She was everything a mother should be and more.
She is survived by her son Roger Ward and wife Joan, son Benny Ward, son Gary Wayne Ward and wife Mary, daughter Shirley Rucker and Patrick, daughter Bonnie O'Sullivan and husband Andy, daughter Gail Cox, daughter Doris Haskell and husband Jim, daughter Peggy Masing and husband Curtis, son Mark Ward and wife Cecelia, and grandchildren Patrick, Jenny, Kellie, Brian, Kimberly, Kristi, Adam, Jessica, Matthew, Joe, Timothy, Ryan, Paul, Eric (Masing), Eric (Haskell), Amanda, Jimmy, Kaitlyn, Melissa, Nathan, and twenty great-grandchildren, and two great-great-grandchildren. She was predeceased by grandsons Joshua Ward and Edward Ward. A viewing will be held at the Charles L. Stevens Funeral Home Inc., 1501 E. Fort Avenue, Locust Point, MD on Tuesday, February 27th from 3-5pm & 7-9pm. A service, officiated by Nicely’s grandson Pastor Matthew Ward, will be held at the Charles L. Stevens Funeral Home on Wednesday, February 28th at 10am, followed by the interment in Emory United Methodist Church Cemetery, 1600 Emory Road, Upperco, MD.
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