Former Scouts, friends want to honor Dexter leader at Camp Lewallen

Jack Ward of Dexter was a man whose name was synonymous with Boy Scouting in Southeast Missouri from 1965 until his death in 2000. Ward wore many hats for the Boy Scouts, but it was his role as Camp Lewallen health officer that touched so many. Now, these former Scouts want to honor Ward by naming a new health pavilion at Camp Lewallen in his name, but to do so they need to raise a substantial amount of money.

Ward, whose participation in scouting dated back to 1956 when he became an assistant Scoutmaster, was a native of Dexter and a postal carrier for the U.S. Postal Service. He served as Scoutmaster, explorer advisor, and as lodge advisor for the Boy Scout's national honorary camping society the Order of the Arrow's Anpetu-We Lodge. But most young Boy Scouts knew him as Camp Lewallen's health officer, someone who would heal their wounds and comfort them when they were feeling a little homesick.

"Kids who got sick or skinned their leg, he would doctor them up," said long-time friend Carl Sanders, who met Ward in the 1960s while working with a Boy Scout troop in Dexter. "I would have to say he was loved by every kid who met him, but homesick kids were his favorite kids to help. Jack really did a lot for kids and adults, too. He was a great friend to everybody. I just can't say enough good things about him."

Camp Lewallen, located outside Greenville, is host to various Boy Scout troops throughout the region. Ward would take his vacation time during the summer and go up to the camp to serve as the health officer. After he retired, Ward could be seen there every weekend in the old health offices that were erected shortly after World War II.

"His duties went way beyond being camp nurse," said former Boy Scout and Butler County Circuit Court Judge Mark Richardson, who knew Ward from their involvement with the Order of the Arrow. "He was the inspirational leader to the camp staff. We could always go to him with our problems."

Ward was most famous for his ability to cure homesickness. Ward would bring in homesick boys, give them a candy bar or other sweet and talk to them until they were eager to rejoin their fellow scouts.

"Of course, he always dispensed his famous medicine, a popsicle, an air conditioned room, and a long chat," said Richardson about Ward's remedy for homesick campers. "He made a big contribution to thousands of young boys and young staff members as well. You could say Jack was the father of all Boy Scouting in Southeast Missouri for a half a century."

Michael Keathley, a former Boy Scout and current administrator of the Missouri State Senate, is a member of the Jack Ward Memorial Building Fund Committee. Keathley sees this as an opportunity to honor Ward's memory and give him a permanent place at the camp he loved dearly.

"This was not a short term thing for Jack," Keathley said. "The positive reputation that (scouting) has in Southeast Missouri is due in no small part to him. After he retired, his entire focus of life was the Boy Scouts. Everything he and Reba (Ward's wife) did revolved around the Scouts. In my mind there is no one that has been involved in scouting in Southeast Missouri that has a larger influence on a larger number of youths than Jack Ward."

Keathley recognizes that there is a long way to go to raise the funding necessary to secure Ward's name on the building. Currently only about $30,000 of the $100,000 needed has been raised. Keathley and other committee members hope to raise the money from former Scouts who knew Ward and want to honor his work.

"I've seen (Ward) reach in his pocket and give kids money cause they ran out," said Sanders. "Kids who talked like they couldn't afford to go to camp, he would pay their way. They are going to replace that building, and we are just trying to get enough donation money so that it can be named after him."

The Jack Ward Memorial Building Fund can be reached at 3000 Gordonville Road, Cape Girardeau, Mo. 63703-5008 or by phone at 1-800-335-3346.

Committee members are hoping former Boy Scouts and friends of Jack Ward will contribute to the memorial. Those who donate more than $500 will have their names engraved on a plaque in the entryway area of the Jack Ward Memorial Building.

"This is an honor Jack would never ask for," said Keathley. "But it is a particularly appropriate honor. This is how a lot of us remember him. This is the right way to honor him."