John A. Ward, Former Sag Harbor Mayor, Dies At 90

John A. Ward

Former Sag Harbor Mayor John A. Ward, who was also a former fire chief and veteran, died at his home on Thursday, March 15, just 11 days after turning 90.

Mr. Ward, who was born one of 10 children, and raised in Sag Harbor, served as mayor and village trustee for 24 years after he returned from service in a as a U.S. Army tech sergeant. As mayor in the early 1970s, he helped ease the village out of a slow economy by starting up Sag Harbor’s tourism industry. In a 2010 Press interview, Mr. Ward credited the Whalers Festival, the predecessor of HarborFest, for keeping Sag Harbor’s population strong. As a carpenter he had a hand in building the windmill near Long Wharf for the festival and one year, he was the co-chairman of the Whalers Festival—a much grander celebration than HarborFest, he recalled—with author John Steinbeck.

He had also lent a hand in creating the Sag Harbor Fire Department museum on the corner of Sage and Church streets as well as reopening Long Island Avenue as it had been unused by the Long Island Rail Road for some time. While on the Village Board, Mr. Ward was responsible for building a culvert that minimized the low tide odor in one part of the village and creating the village’s World War II memorial at Marine Park.

Born on March 4, 1922, on Bay Street to John and Elsie Konrad Ward, he graduated from Pierson High School and joined the Montauk Hose Company in 1940, eventually serving as fire chief of the Sag Harbor 
Fire Department. In 2010, the fire department held a special ceremony to celebrate his 70 years of service to the department.

“I joined because in the Depression, there was nothing to do,” Mr. Ward said about joining the department in a 2010 Press interview. “It kept me active, and it was a great group of people.” Mr. Ward said that he joined the Montauk Hose Company specifically—one of five in the department—because it was based near the Bulova Watch Factory, where he worked at the time.

When he first signed up for the department, he and his fellow firefighters were extinguishing blazes upward of three times a day, especially in the winter, because many Sag Harbor residents still burned wood fires in their homes, he said.

“The best thing about the fire department is we’re one big happy family,” said Mr. Ward after his ceremony in 2010. “What they just did for me yesterday ... Where could I get that?”

Mr. Ward was a known mechanic, boater, contractor, and restaurateur. According to the 2010 Press article, Mr. Ward had a talent for fixing things and through his boat repair shop he became friends with Mr. Steinbeck. Mr. Steinbeck could not get his boat to run, so a mutual friend of the two men sent the famous author to Mr. Ward. Mr. Steinbeck’s boat was fixed and from then on, Mr. Ward and Mr. Steinbeck were friends.

Mr. Ward also spent much of his time as a member of the Chelberg-Battle American Legion Post, the Sag Harbor Yacht Club, as well as the Knights of Columbus.

He is survived by two children, Janice Kracke of Riverhead and Brenda Ploeger of Sag Harbor; siblings, Edward Ward of New York City and Margaret Toole of Sag Harbor; eight grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his wife, Lois in 1993; a son, David in 1988; and siblings, Ann, Florence, Alice, Ruth, Dick, Gene and George.

A funeral was held on Monday, March 19, at St. Andrew’s Roman Catholic Church in Sag Harbor. Interment followed at St. Andrew’s cemetery.