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 Olan Buddy Ward
Olan
Buddy Ward was a strong tall man with an iron handshake; he looked
others in the eye and lived his life by making his word bond others
could count on. Friends will tell you there is only one person that Buddy Ward reminded them of and that was John
Wayne. Buddy instilled these traits into his family which is very
important when you have five boys. (Olan, Dakie, George, Tommy, and Joey) The love of Buddy Ward’s life many would
say was the water, but the ones that knew him well knew it to be his
wife Martha Pearl. Buddy and Martha Pearl was married 50 years not a
small feat for anyone, but these two were not like normal people. These
two fine people not only raised their five children, but many other
young people were in and out of the house learning what Mr. Ward had to
teach. Many people in the town of Apalachicola well tell you that the
Ward’s helped them when no one else would.
The Ward family is
very close some people say blood is thicker than water, but if you are a
Ward you know that blood is thicker than molasses. This closeness
in the family due to
the way Buddy was raised. His father was a tug boat captain on the
Apalachicola River and this is where Buddy found his first love in the
surrounding waters. Times were tough, and in this time many people
turned their noses up to the people that worked the waters surrounding
Apalachicola Florida. But growing up poor taught Buddy how to work, and
that is what he did until his passing. This work
ethic
was introduced to his boys as children and like him they have never
stopped.
Buddy Ward was an ambassador to
the seafood industry when there was no one else to look out for the men of the
water. The seafood industry will continue, because of this strong man.
Many people in the area still misses Buddy Ward, but because of his will to pass
on the knowledge that he had to his Boys the seafood businesses will
thrive.
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