Dr. John Ward: “Giving to a school like Christendom is an honor and one of the primary joys I get out of life.”

Gift Plan: Combined Gift (which helped launch Christendom’s Freedom Fund)

When asked about his early involvement with Christendom College, Dr. John Ward confessed, “as a bystander, I contributed what I could.”

Though a “bystander,” “Jack” Ward was no stranger to service and activity throughout his life.

Born in Pittsburgh just months before the 1929 market crash, Jack served in the United States Army in the aftermath of the Second World War. Assigned to San Francisco’s St. Francis Hospital, he completed both his pathology internship and residency in the mid-1960s.

Ultimately, Jack’s love for family and his native Pittsburgh beckoned him home. He is quick to recall the memory of the great Perry Como and Bobby Vinton­—both neighborhood fellows—which undoubtedly explains Dr. Ward’s lingering affection for ballroom dancing and for playing the piano.

With a growing and successful pathology practice, his concern for the impact of the ’60s generation on his local Catholic parish and on some Catholic universities compelled him to act. He offered pro-life presentations at local parishes and organizations and was retained to give medical testimony in court.

Through a local chapter of the Christian Commonwealth Institute, Jack became acquainted with some early Christendom College leaders—including William Marshner and the late L. Brent Bozell.

About that time, he recognized a link between the “watering-down of Catholicism in the pulpit” that he observed and the infamous Land O’ Lakes-inspired rebellion on numerous Catholic college campuses. Concerned that “many schools suffered from the lost zeal in their priests or nuns,” Dr. Ward concluded sadly, “I thought Catholic colleges were dying out.”

His strong interest in Bozell’s work motivated this “bystander” to investigate and then join the dynamic work of Dr. Warren Carroll and his newly founded Christendom College. Jack considers it an honor to have served a term on the College’s Board of Directors during its critical, formative years.

When asked what encouragement he would give to those inspired by Christendom’s mission and by the impact of its alumni on the culture, Dr. Ward smiled and said, “giving to a school like Christendom is an honor and one of the primary joys I get out of life.”

In 2012 Jack generously arranged a combined gift (cash and a charitable lead trust) to benefit Christendom’s privately funded financial aid fund, now called the Freedom Fund.