John Marshall Ward

John Marshall Ward, age 74, of West Palm Beach, Florida and formerly of Battle Creek, died of natural causes on December 23, 2018. He was born in Fort Worth, Texas, the son of Frank W. Ward II and Dorothy (Feinauer) Ward. He grew up in Battle Creek where he was a 1962 graduate of Lakeview High School. He received a B.S. in Journalism in 1967 from the University of Michigan where he was Editor of the college humor magazine, "The Gargoyle", from 1963-65.

He moved to New York City in 1967 to pursue a career in advertising, working for a subsidiary of McCann-Erikson Advertising Agency as a copywriter on accounts including Coca-Cola, Westinghouse and Hilton. In 1970 he left agency work to do free-lance work in advertising copy and design.

John grew Bonsai and Orchids while in high school and continued this interest while in New York. In 1975 he moved to West Palm Beach, Florida where his large yard and shade house were filled with botanical specimens. He was a member of the American Orchid Society. Two of his Orchid hybrids were registered with the American Orchid Society; Aeridovanda, Memoria Gene Feinauer, and Epicattleya Colibri 'Botanicals'.

In Florida, John worked in Floral Design, and Retail Merchandising Design. Eventually he was self-employed doing custom and consignment work, designing and painting needlepoint canvas' for a local Needlepoint Shop. Several of his original designs were purchased, produced and marketed by a national needlepoint company.

In the 1980's, when his health kept him from painting, he developed an interest in Art Glass. His online support and mentoring of beginning glass artists grew into a wide network of artists and friends that he communicated with daily. His growing knowledge of their art, and production of the various forms of Art Glass, resulted in an extensive and eclectic collection of Art Glass.

John will be remembered as a good friend by a large and diverse group of people around the world. He will be missed by his family as the best Uncle and brother. Surviving John are his sister, Alice (John) Raviolo, of Cave Junction, Oregon; niece, Monique Potvin (Joseph 'Peppi' Nominikat), their son Bode Nominikat, of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany and a nephew, John Everard (Elizabeth) Raviolo, and their children, Weston and Madeline, of Fox River Grove, Illinois. John's cremains will be interred at Oak Hill Cemetery in Battle Creek, in the Ward family plot. The family will gather for a memorial service at a later date. Arrangements by Farley Estes Dowdle Funeral Home & Cremation Care, Battle Creek.