Y Monthly Monday Mission Update
A Very Special Lady
When Betty Ward passed away peacefully at her home in Harford County on July 28th, her loving family and the Y family as a whole lost a quiet, caring, and beautiful storm. As the following Monday Mission Update written in 2019 explains, there’s a Y in Harford County because Betty, her late husband Walter, and her two children, Bob and Jennifer, made it possible. Betty has been the guiding light of the Ward Y in Abingdon all these years, supporting its mission and programs, and passionate about having a place for the county’s families and kids to be active, have a sense of purpose and to be in community.
Suzanne Green, our longtime Y leader in Harford County who retired a month ago, and Betty became incredibly close over the years over lunches, phones calls, visits at Betty’s home and Betty’s occasional visits to the Y. Their relationship so wonderfully underscores how the Y is all about building and strengthening relationships and community. For Betty, the Y was not simply a building (although she and her family ensured that a wonderful building was built); it was about joy, friendship and a sense of place.
So, today we simply say thank you to Betty Ward. Thank you for a life well lived, and for so humbly and determinedly building a strong and vibrant Y community in your beloved Harford County. We are honored that the Walter & Betty Ward Y in Abingdon will forever bear your name and be infused with your incredible spirit.
July 1, 2019
This past Thursday, an impressively active and vibrant 94 years young Betty Ward took a dip in the Y pool in Abingdon. After finishing her swim, she had lunch with Suzanne Green, our VP of Operations, who has become fast friends with Betty over the years. Betty, who was quite the swimmer when she was younger, told Suzanne that she thoroughly enjoyed her swim, but her arms were a little sore, as she had not been swimming for a few years.
So, you might be thinking, what is so remarkable about all of this other than the obvious fact that Betty Ward (pictured below) doesn’t look a day over 50?! Well, that is a good question and an even better story.
You see, the Y in Abingdon is named the Walter and Betty Ward Y, in honor of Betty and her late husband, who donated the land and critical funding to make this bustling Y in Harford County possible. Simply stated, there would be no Y facility in Harford County if it were not for Betty, her husband and their family.
On June 15, 2007, we opened the doors for the first time to throngs of eager community members, while Betty, her daughter Jennifer Reynolds, son Bob Ward and other family members beamed with pride, realizing a long-held dream of theirs. Walter Ward, a hardworking and successful real estate developer in Harford County for decades, developed the Box Hill mixed-use site, and donated a significant parcel of land to the Y in Central Maryland in 2002. Walter and Betty Ward had always hoped to see a Y built in the county, and so rather than simply hoping it would happen, they took the initiative to ensure that it would happen.
In an interview a few years back, Betty Ward modestly stated, “Harford County has been very good to us and our family, and we like to give back to the county that we love." Of course, Betty and the Ward family’s generosity has been the stuff of legend in Harford County and beyond, touching so many different organizations, communities and people. In fact, it is essentially impossible to imagine Harford County today without the Wards. Happily, one does not have to.
Sadly, less than a year after the land donation, Walter Ward passed away at the age of 78, and so he never saw his dream of a Y realized. However, he left a strongly determined family behind and, thanks to Betty, Bob, Jennifer and many great volunteers and Y associates, their dream finally came to reality a little over four years after Walter’s untimely passing. There were several hurdles along the way, but they only served to stiffen everyone’s resolve to make this long hoped for Y happen.
So, raise a toast to Walter Ward, to the Ward family, and to the wonderful and forever young Betty Ward, whose spirit and grace continues to light up our bustling Y in Harford County!
All the best,
John K. Hoey
President & CEO
The Y in Central Maryland