CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Ann Ward, Lewiston-Auburn’s first Head Start director, died Oct. 11, 2023, at the age of 94 after an accomplished life in Maine and Cambridge, Mass. Her husband of 53 years, Lawrence J. Ward, owned the Ward Brothers clothing store; he died in 2005.

Ann was born in Brooklyn on March 4, 1929. Her father taught science and her mother was a stenographer.

Ann had a happy childhood in Brooklyn. She graduated from Radcliffe College, Class of 1949.

She worked as a reporter for the Great Neck News in Long Island where her job included interviewing personalities such as the actress Barbara Hale from TV’s “Perry Mason.”

Ann met Lawrence at Tanglewood in 1951. They married in November of that year; she moved from New York City to Lewiston.

In the mid-1960s Ann helped found Androscoggin County’s Head Start program and was its first director. The federally-funded program served low-income preschoolers and their families in Lewiston, Auburn and six towns.

“Ann was admired and respected by colleagues and staff in the Head Start community throughout the State of Maine,” said Estelle Rubinstein, a friend who succeeded Ann as director.

“We have money for Star Wars but not for people,” Ann told The Lewiston Sun-Journal in 1987 when Congress was seeking to spend money on an experimental defense system while cutting Head Start.

Ann served on the Planning Board and the League of Women Voters. She was a steadfast Democrat who opposed the Vietnam War and supported civil rights and women’s rights.

Ward Brothers was founded in 1929 on Lisbon Street by Lawrence’s father, Israel, and uncle, Nathan. He and a cousin, David Merson, sold the store in 1987.

Ann and her husband moved to Cambridge to help care for their son, Jeffrey, who died of cancer in 1991. They were accepted into the Harvard School of Learning in Retirement (HILR). In 2014 the school honored Ann for her service.

At her condo building she served on several committees and helped write the newsletter. For a hobby, she worked with sterling silver, making necklaces using small rocks from the beach. Ann was a voracious reader. She loved art, opera, classical music, traveling abroad, and trying new restaurants.

She is survived by a daughter, Sandra Ward Simon and her husband Larry Simon, of Marlton, N.J,; a son Michael Ward and his wife, Isabelle Cattez Ward, of Cambridge; a son Peter Ward of Cambridge, a grandson Clay Ward, a grandson Alex Ward and his wife Christine Hilt; a granddaughter Melissa Simon Wall and her husband, Kevin, and a great-grandson, Ember. Two daughters-in-law pre-deceased her, Mai Cramer and Bonnie Agnew.

Her ashes will be placed at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge. No services are yet planned.

Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to The Arbor Day Foundation by visiting
http://www.arborday.com.

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