Ward 100th birthday
Helen Welsh Ward of Lund Care Center celebrated her 100th birthday Aug. 18 with a family birthday party in the gazebo on the Concordia campus.
She moved to Concordia Haven Retirement Apartments in 2010. Five years later she moved to Oertel Care Center for assisted living and currently lives in Lund Care Center.
Born in nearby Natrona Heights, Helen was the valedictorian in her senior class at Freeport High School and first in her class at Allegheny General Hospital School of Nursing.
She was a nurse at Allegheny Valley Hospital and also did private duty nursing for patients who were critically ill at a time when intensive care units were not yet developed.
She married Jack Linfoot Ward on Valentine’s Day in 1941 and lived in Silverville.
The couple and their seven children moved to Leasureville, outside of Sarver, in a big white farmhouse on 14 acres.
Jack Ward passed away on Oct. 31, 2009, at age 91.
All seven of her children graduated from Knoch High School and went on to college.
Kathy Zigo of Freeport retired from Highlands High School where she taught honors English.
James Ward was a pilot, John Ward was a civil engineer, and Judy Ward of California retired from the Air Force.
Christine Ward, a judge in the Court of Common Pleas in Allegheny County, lives in the Shadyside section of Pittsburgh, and Jeffrey Ward of Sarver is a lawyer with Cohen & Grigsby in downtown Pittsburgh. They also had a brother Dan who lived in Chicago and was an engineer.
Helen has 13 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.
A member of St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church in Cabot, Helen was an active member of the Christian Mothers.
