LUMBERTON — To people who knew him and worked with him, Dr. D.E. Ward Jr. was an extraordinary surgeon and a gentleman who was compassionate, scholarly and a Christian.
Most of all they said Ward, who was born Doctor, will be missed in a community he served in a variety of capacities for parts of seven decades.
Born Doctor Ernest Ward Jr. in Durham, the 98-year-old died Sunday night at his home on Barker Street, soon after visiting his wife, Sara, who is in assisted living.
Ward practiced medicine for 58 years in Lumberton, beginning in 1953 and retiring in 2011 at the age of 90.
Ward graduated from Durham High School, Wake Forest College, and Wake Forest University School of Medicine. At Southeastern Regional Medical Center in Lumberton, he served as chief of surgery, chief of medical staff, and as a trustee.
Ward was president of both the WFU Alumni and the Bowman Gray School of Medicine Associations and received the award for Distinguished Service at WFU, and the award for Distinguished Alumnus from WFU School of Medicine. He was a member of the Masons and Shriners and was active in the Robeson County History Museum. He was an Eagle Scout and served on the Executive Board of the Cape Fear Council of Boy Scouts of America. He was honored as Tar Heel of the Week in 1979 and was presented the Order of The Long Leaf Pine, the state’s highest civilian award.
He was the team physician for the Lumberton High School football team for 22 year, providing team physicals at no charge. A proud graduate of Wake Forest, he rooted hard for the Demon Deacons.
The Dr. D.E. Ward Jr. Provider of Excellence Award was created by Southeastern Regional Medical Center in 2017 in honor of Ward’s many years of service to the hospital, his devotion to providing the highest quality of care to his patients, and his efforts to improve Southeastern Health and the community.
“Dr. Ward was the type of individual you never forget,” said Joann Anderson, president and CEO of Southeastern Health. “He was a scholar and a gentleman.
“From the first time I met him until the last time I saw him two weeks ago, he greeted me with a smile. He welcomed me to Southeastern Health 12 years ago. He often commented that he had worked with all four CEOs. He said it with pride, but I can say the four CEOs of Southeastern Health are proud to have had the privilege of working with him to create a great health-care system.
“He will be missed.”
One of those CEOs was Luckey Welsh, who came to hospital in 1967 and worked in the pharmacy for 10 years before moving into administration.
“When I came there, he had been there for many, many years,” Welsh said. “He was loved by his patients.”
Ward cared about his patients and did the small things that helped them through trying times, Welsh said.
“He was a person who was respected by everyone,” Welsh said.
Ward performed the duties of a medical examiner, Welsh said, and even performed at least one autopsy in 2012 when the regular medical examiner was unavailable. He continued to do small things in his office after retiring from performing surgeries.
“The nursing staff loved him,” Welsh said. “They are the people that make us look good.”
Ward’s death is a great loss, Welsh said.
“The community has lost an icon of medicine in Robeson County,” Welsh said.
Dr. A. Eugene Douglas, a psychiatrist, said he first met Ward when he moved to Lumberton in 1965. Ward helped recruit Douglas and a second generation of doctors to the local hospital.
“The Robeson County Medical Society started the community mental health program in Lumberton,” Douglas said. “I was recruited by the physicians, and Dr. Ward was involved with this.”
Ward was very supportive to a young doctor, Douglas said. At the time he was in the Navy and stationed at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, in Jacksonville.
They became hunting and golfing buddies, and their families socialized often. Ward was a famed storyteller.
“He was just an extraordinary human being,” Douglas said.
Ward was very active in the medical community, the church and the community as a whole, Douglas said. And he was a skilled surgeon.
“He was the type of person everyone should try to emulate,” Douglas said.
James R. Rust, a local businessman, knew Ward as a hospital trustee and from church.
“I’ve lived in Lumberton 45, 46 years, and I’ve known him for all that time, mainly through the church, first,” Rust said.
He served with Ward on the SRMC board of trustees and the Deacon board at First Baptist Church at Sixth and Walnut streets in Lumberton, Rust said.
“Ward was to me, first, a fine doctor. Second, he was a fine, compassionate and Christian man,” Rust said.
His service on the Deacon board was not self-serving, Rust said. His service on the hospital board was all about what was best for the hospital and the patient.
“We have lost a jewel,” he said. “There weren’t many D.E. Wards around.”
In October 2018 Ward was honored for his long service to the Lumberton Rotary Club. He received a $1,000 endowment in his name and was presented a North Carolina pin from former N.C. Sen. David Weinstein.
The Tuesday before his death, he blessed the food at the Rotary meeting as he had done for the last 30 years as the club chaplain.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by three children, seven grandchildren and many other relatives and friends, according to his obituary in today’s edition of The Robesonian.
A celebration of his live is scheduled for 11 a.m. Monday at First Baptist Church, located at 606 N. Walnut St. in Lumberton.
