Byron Ward

Byron Allen Ward, 98, of Cape Girardeau passed away Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025, at Chateau Girardeau.

He was born Sept. 18, 1926, in Honolulu, son of Byron Henry and Anna Marie Frankhauser Ward. At the age of 2, Byron and his family moved to San Diego and then San Ysidro, California.

Byron graduated from Sweetwater Union High School in 1944, enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served as a hospital corpsman until 1946, when he met his wife, Marsha Ann Haler. He married Marsha in 1946 after getting his mother’s permission, and they lived happily together until her death in 2004, just one day after their 54th anniversary.

Byron graduated from San Diego Junior College and Oregon State University in 1952, after briefly playing semi-pro baseball, and then built a 30-year career in the wholesale lumber business before retiring in 1986. He was a Mason and a member of Al Kader Shrine in Portland, Oregon, for over 60 years.

In March 2007, Byron was married to Winifred R. Hirsch, and they spent the first half of their marriage in Beaverton, Oregon, before moving to Cape Girardeau.

Loving survivors include his wife, Winifred Ward of Cape Girardeau; two sons, Ken (Debra) Ward of Beaverton and Steven (Carol) Ward of Hillsboro, Oregon; and a dear friend, Carson Bailey.

Byron was preceded in death by his first wife, Marsha, and his parents.

A celebration of life will be at a later date in Oregon.

Cremation arrangements were by McCombs Funeral Home and Cremation Center in Jackson.

Online condolences may be sent to the family by clicking on the tribute wall tab above Byron’s obituary at www.mccombsfuneralhome.com.

Southeast Missourian