Obituary of Marsh Ward

Marsh Ward of Duluth, 82, died Aug. 30, 2016 in Chris Jensen Health Center after a three-year struggle with Lewy body dementia. He was the retired psychotherapist and co-founder of a cutting edge program in Washington, D.C. called Clean & Sober Streets. At about age nine, Marsh suffered one of the first cases of a new polio epidemic in the northeastern United States, and was visited in the hospital by then-famous General Mark Clark, who hoped to cheer him up. Years later he later studied at Hobart/Wm Smith in New York, at Mcalester College in St. Paul, and at the University of Minnesota, where he received his masters of social work. He was employed at state hospitals in Rochester, Anoka, St. Peter, and Moose Lake, then joined the Human Development Center in Duluth. Throughout his life he enjoyed singing, playing guitar or shakuhachi flute, playing golf, and running marathons, especially Grandma's. He and his third wife, Julia Lightfoot, circled Lake Superior on bicycles for their honeymoon, and then moved to Washington, DC to work with Mitch Snyder's CCNV program. They soon founded C&CS and worked without salary to support on-site live-in drug and alcohol addicts who were strongly motivated to help themselves. The program's format has changed, but it still exists 30 years later. He was predeceased by his first wife and mother of his five children, Cynthia Backus Ward; his parents, Madeline Wallace Ward and Judge Hamilton Ward III of Buffalo, N.Y.; his brother, Wallace of Las Vegas; and by his son, Mark of Duluth. He is survived by his daughters, Wendi Sue of St. Paul and Marcia Louise of Holyoke; sons, Steven Lincoln (Vee Wolfenbarger) of St. Paul and John Chamberlain III (Lori Hatten) of Duluth; grandchildren, Eowyn Victoria of St. Paul and James Michael of Colorado Springs; brothers, Hamilton IV and Charles of the Buffalo, N.Y. area; honorary granddaughter, Maxey Mitchell of Alexandria, Va.; and by his wife, Susan S. Crawford of Duluth. Marsh's family wishes to thank the staff of the Cedar and Willow wings of Chris Jensen Health Center for their loving care of Marsh. A memorial gathering for family and close friends will be held on Sunday, Sept. 11. Please see Marsh's Caring Bridge site for information about time and place. Contributions may be made in Marsh's name to Damiano Center in Duluth or to the charity of your choice.