Roll Call Tribute

Barbara Patricia Ward 

July 14, 1931 - November 1, 2023 

At age 92, Barbara Ward died Wednesday, November 01, 2023. According to Barbara's wishes, cremation has taken place. She was born in Chicago, Illinois, on July 14, 1931, to Henry Jacob Bier and Mary Elizabeth (Smoot) Bier.

She married Morris Alton Taylor in 1946, and they welcomed the birth of four children between 1950 and 1956: Marilyn Elizabeth, Mark Alan, Lee Morris, and Paul Michael. Although Barbara had attended only a few weeks of high school, the University of Houston fully accepted her as a student based on her scores on an entrance examination. She graduated cum laud in communication studies in 1962 when less than 8% of American women achieved a college degree. She continued her education by earning a master's degree and a Ph.D. at Texas A&M University, where she also taught undergraduate courses.

Barbara married Major Michael Ward, U.S. Army, in 1969. They welcomed the birth of their daughter, Ruth Love Ward, shortly before his return to the Vietnam war front. Her mother happily established a loving relationship with her two step-daughters, Michelle and Geralyn Ward, a relationship that Barbara enjoyed to the end of her life. After completing her graduate studies, she accepted a one-year faculty appointment to Haskell American Indian College in Lawrence, Kansas. That experience was her greatly valued introduction to American Indian culture. During the year, the warden at nearby Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary invited Barbara and two of her professor colleagues to establish an American Indian culture group within the prison. The weekly meetings held there with the Indian inmates dramatically deepened Barbara's insights into human communication.

In January 1979, Barbara joined the Flint university faculty of General Motors Institute (renamed years later as Kettering University). She was a tenured professor there until her retirement in 2005. She was very proud to have been elected to a term as the presiding Moderator of the Faculty Senate. In addition to her teaching schedule, Barbara often conducted corporate-sponsored management seminars on campus or at company locations in several states.

Barbara greatly loved her membership in the First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Flint, Michigan. She felt that her spiritual blessings from that association were endless. Barbara was also very proud that she had been elected to be the charter president of the Flint Women's Forum. She deeply regretted that shortly after her retirement it became too difficult for her to attend church services or the Forum meetings.

Barbara's death was preceded by her parents, her eldest son, Mark A. Taylor and her eldest daughter, Marilyn E. Olson (Trafican). She has also mourned the death of her dear best friend of over sixty years: Ruth Jackson Blake. In addition to four thriving children and their spouses, Barbara is survived by her three grandchildren, Tricia, Catherine, and Grant Taylor, plus her brother, David Henry Bier, and his dear wife Yoko and their daughters, Susan, Julia, and Vida.