Remembering Charles Ward, 1924 – 2020

Charles W. Ward, Jr. died on November 23, 2020 in Tulsa. He was 96. Charles served Gibbs College as member of one of its first Board of Visitors, and later received the University of Oklahoma Regent’s Alumni Award in 2007 in recognition of his service. He remains a most distinguished alumnus of our college.

Charles was born on Sept. 11, 1924 in Midwest, Wyo. to Monetta (Huckabee) and Charles Ward, Sr. Charles Sr. was an oil wildcatter who took his family on adventures throughout the United States and into to Canada and Colombia.

After completing his early education during his travels, Charles Jr. matriculated at Castle Heights Military Academy in Lebanon, Tenn. While at Castle Heights, Charles played football for the Tigers, boxed, and worked on CHMA’s student newspaper “The Cavalier.” During his youth, he was also an active DeMolay.

Charles graduated CHMA in 1941 and, with his father’s encouragement, enrolled at the University of Oklahoma, intending to study engineering. He pledged Phi Delta Theta, but the fun of college life was quickly put on hold, however, as Charles enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1942, shortly after turning 18 years old.

Following basic training, the Army selected Charles for Officer Candidate School. He became one of OCS’ youngest “90-day wonders,” earning his commission as a second lieutenant when he was just 18. The Army assigned him command of a platoon in its famed Fifth Infantry Division, and eventually dispatched him, his platoon and the “Red Diamonds” to the British Isles to prepare for the invasion of Normandy. Charles would see action at, among other engagements, Utah Beach, Operation Cobra-the Allied breakout from Normandy-Metz, and the Battle of the Bulge. He earned numerous decorations, including the Silver Star, Bronze Star with ‘V’ device, the Purple Heart with clusters, the French Croix de Guerre avec palme and the Combat Infantryman’s Badge. Gen. George S. Patton personally presented Charles with the Silver Star. Charles also received a field promotion to captain, and, following V-E Day, briefly served as the occupational mayor of Simbach, a small town in Bavaria.

Charles came home on leave, expecting to be called up in short order for the looming invasion of Japan-an invasion which never came. While on leave, he took Shirley Ann Hawthorn on a date. Four days later, on July 30, 1945 he married Shirley, starting a 57-year union which lasted until her death in 2002.

With World War II behind him, Charles returned to OU to complete his degree. While in the European Theater, he became fascinated with the cathedrals that dotted the landscape-particularly the one in Reims, France. With that impression on his mind, he focused his studies in architecture, studying under the legendary Bruce Goff and graduating with his degree in that field in 1950. He apprenticed at the Leo A. Daly firm in Omaha, Neb. before returning to Oklahoma and setting up his own practice in Tulsa. While in private practice, he lent his design skills to several of Tulsa’s most well-known structures, including the Central Library, Southminster Presbyterian Church, the Thornton Family YMCA, the Charles C. Mason Education Service Center, the Parkland Plaza Office Building, LaFortune Stadium, and his family’s residence, known as the “Comma House.” He never forgot those legendary European cathedrals, though. His pencil-and-ink drawings of some of the world’s most famous houses of worship graced the cover of the yearly Ward family Christmas card for decades, with a different structure each time.

It was in the “Comma House” that Shirley and he raised their two sons, Charles III and Leslie. In later life, they would also raise two of their grandchildren, Charles IV and Elizabeth, there.