Professor Emeritus Dr. Thomas Carl Ward was born July 10, 1941, in Angier, N.C., and passed away peacefully on Feb. 28, 2020, in Blacksburg. He was preceded in death by his father, Thomas Marsh Ward, his mother Geraline Fuquay Young Ward, his sister-in-law Susan Hines Ward, his son-in-law Stuart Martin Jewell and his granddaughter Claudia Drake Jewell.
He is survived by his stepmother, Mary Thompson Ward, his wife Randall Armstrong Ward, his daughters Janice Ward Jewell, Cynthia Ward Hackney and Helen McLeod Ward; stepsons Michael Kelly Crump and Patrick Walton Crump, his brother Ronald Young Ward, his sister Mary Martha Ward, his stepbrother Neal Franklin Fowler, and his granddaughters Olivia Grace Jewell, Lily and Julia Sconyers, and Maxine Crump.
Thomas earned his Bachelor of Science in engineering from North Carolina State University and his MS/PhD in Polymer Chemistry from Princeton University in 1963. He accepted a post-doctoral position at Strathclyde University in Glasgow, Scotland, and then worked at the University of Essex in Colchester until he accepted a faculty position at Virginia Tech in 1968, serving until he retired in 2006.
Among his numerous awards are the William E. Wine Award for Teaching Excellence at Virginia Tech in 1976 and The National Paul J. Flory Polymer Education Award from the American Chemical Society in 2004. He was a Thomas C. Patrick fellow in the National Adhesion Society. He actively served in several international professional technical societies and was the author of 159 publications and four books.
In October of 2018, alumni, colleagues and friends, in conjunction with Das Family Foundation of the St. Louis Community Foundation, established the Dr. Thomas C. Ward Graduate Fellowship in Chemistry at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
In memory of a beloved husband, father, grandfather and a dedicated learner and teacher, special thanks go to the Warm Hearth at Home Caregivers and Carilion Hospice. Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, March 18, at the Blacksburg Unitarian Universalist Congregation with the Rev. Pam Philips officiating. The family will receive guests after the service until 12:15 p.m. in the church gathering room.
In lieu of flowers, please donate to the charity of your choice. Send online condolences to mccoyfuneralhome.com. Arrangements by McCoy Funeral Home, Blacksburg.
