Arthur C. 'Bud' Ward, 84
Arthur C. "Bud" Ward, 84, passed away Sunday, Aug. 13, 2006, at the Kalispell Regional Medical Center in Kalispell.
Bud was born in Aitkin County, Minn., to Wallace W. Ward and Anna (Rieve) Ward. Bud had two brothers, Gareld and Harold, and five sisters, Ruth, Esther, Dorothy, Virginia and Patsy.
In 1941, while working construction building roads between Big Timber and Harlowton, Bud met and married Margaret Louise Allman of Melville. He then moved to Billings to work as a truck driver for McGary Brothers. A son, Terry, was born in 1942.
In January 1944, Bud entered the Army and trained to be a high-speed radio operator at Davis College in California. He served in the Philippines, setting up communications at various sites including Leyte, Luzon, Batangas Bay and Manila.
In February 1946, he was honorably discharged from service and moved to Melville, where he worked at various jobs and built a house.
In 1947, Bud's daughter Jan was born. Bud joined the Highway Patrol and moved from Helena to Missoula to Hungry Horse. In 1951, Bud moved to Columbia Falls where his daughter Kathy was born. He left the Highway Patrol and worked as an iron worker on the Hungry Horse Dam. After the dam job, he traveled around building teepee burners at various mills and then worked for a while on the Hanford Nuclear Project.
In 1953, Bud went to work for the Anaconda Aluminum Company, where he worked as a guard during the construction of the plant and then went on to become a pot line foreman.
In 1957, Bud's daughter Nancy was born.
Bud moved to Bigfork in 1965, and back to Columbia Falls in 1980. He retired from the aluminum plant in 1982.
Through the years, Bud was involved with the Eagles, VFW, and Senior Citizens Meals on Wheels.
His hobbies were fishing, hunting, driving new cars and trucks, and operating the TV remote.
He loved good friends, music, dogs, and his 14 grandchildren and 23 great-great-grandchildren.
Bud is survived by his wife, Louise, of Columbia Falls; his son, Terry Ward, of Deer Lodge; his daughters, Jan Knudson of Florence, Kathy Plummer of Whitefish, and Nancy Ward of Kalispell; and numerous other relatives and friends.
A memorial service will be 1 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 19, at the Columbia Mortuary in Columbia Falls. The Rev. Ron Pierce will officiate. Inurnment will be after the service at Glacier Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Kalispell with military graveside honors.