James Ward Obituary

Our beloved father, grandfather, brother and friend, James Ward Jr., passed in Fairbanks on July 17, 2025.

Jim was the first born to Jimmy Ward Sr. and Doris Frost in Fort Yukon in 1947 at Hudson Stuck Hospital. He lived in Fort Yukon and was raised by his grandparents, Joe and Ellen Ward, until he was 15. He was an Eagle Scout and graduated in Fort Yukon. In his younger days, he was a firefighter, a trapper, a hunter, and also worked with the Yukon Flats school district as an instructor on how to build log homes. His first marriage was in 1968 to Billie Cadzow. They had four children - Jackie, Tony, Colleen and Gordon. In 1979 he married Ruth Bergman. They also had four children - Jimmy, Gareth, Annette and Steven.

In 1974 he joined Local 942 and had a 30-year career in the union. He worked up north many hours and many years, nonstop. He was a true workaholic and a hard worker, and was always on time no matter what. He was able to get any job he desired. In 1981 he opened a small convenience store in Fort Yukon with his family called "Yukon Grocery," with advice from his beloved uncle Richard Carroll Sr.

Unfortunately, the spring flood of 1982 took the store. In 1986 the family moved to Fairbanks, where he built a beautiful cabin out on his wife's family's property in the Goldstream Valley. He built three cabins over the years for his family; he always provided very well for them.

He also worked in Valdez on the oil spill, plus many other places in the Interior. He could work when and where he wanted and was very respected through the union hall and had many friends through out Alaska. He was very generous to people he met and to his family.

Jimmy was a Doyon and Gz shareholder and a tribal member of Gwichyaa Zhee.

He survived by his siblings, Betty, Harold, Tommy, Joyce, Phillis and Rene, and his eight children, 25 grandchildren and 28 great-grandchildren. He has many relatives in Fort Yukon and Old Crow, and many friends all over Alaska and Canada.

He is preceeded by his parents, Jimmy and Doris, and his grandparents, Joe and Ellen Ward, Jimmy and Fannie Carroll, also Jack and Caroline Frost; his brother, Joe Ward, and his aunt, Jessie Carroll; and his nephews, Mike, Warren and Jimmy John Ward. May they all rest in paradise.

Jim will be missed every day.