Wheatley Edward Ward - Obituary

heatley Edward Ward, Jr., 91, a life-long resident of Mayo, died April 30 at Anne Arundel Medical Center after a brief illness. Born on July 24, 1921 to the late Iva Mae and Wheatley Edward Ward, Sr., Wheatley served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He retired from the Federal Government in 1976 after a 34-year career. Wheatley enjoyed woodworking and boat building, and used those skills in his first year of retirement to build a 32-foot Chesapeake Deadrise, the TAMANITA. He was active in community affairs, especially at the Mayo United Methodist Church where he served as chairman of both the Board of Trustees and the Cemetery Committee for several years. He was also a member of the Masons. He is survived by his loving wife of 33 years, Peggy Kyler Ward, four children, Peggy Chappell of Cocoa, FL, Ginny (Harry) Gessford of Edgewater, Kathy (Joe) Giuffreda of Wesley Chapel, FL and Edward (Kathleen Fitzmaurice) Ward, Sr., of Edgewater; three stepchildren Steve Kyler of Adamstown, John (Carol) Kyler of Dunkirk and Lois (Hal) Oliff of Stafford, VA; 14 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by two grandchildren, Scott Gessford and Michaela Kyler. Friends are invited to Wheatley's Life Celebration from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m., Friday, May 3 at the George P. Kalas Funeral Home, 2973 Solomons Island Road, Edgewater where a funeral service will be held at 10 a.m., Saturday, May 4. Interment Mayo United Methodist Church Cemetery in Mayo. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the AAMC Foundation, 2001 Medical Parkway, Sajak #550, Annapolis, MD 21401 or the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America, Gift Processing Center, P.O. Box 6062, Albert Lea, MN 56007-6662. An online guestbook is available by accessing the link at the top of this page.