Amazing Senior – Lowell Ward

Having turned 95 on November 25 this year, Lowell Ward is truly an inspiration. Born in Iroquois, South Dakota, growing up during the Great Depression and serving in the Navy, he has a wealth of firsthand knowledge and experiences that most Americans only read about in books. Speaking of books, Lowell has written one, “Fragments, A Novel”, which is a brilliant fiction that shows his creativity and imagination. You can find it on Amazon. A Navy man for much of his young adult years, he volunteered for submarine service in New London, Connecticut which was a very stressful experience that many failed to complete. He was assigned to the USS Sterlet and USS Razorback, which is now at a memorial park in Little Rock, Arkansas. The USS Razorback was once bought by the Turkish navy in the 60’s but 40 years later, the state of Arkansas bought it back for $1. It was towed across the ocean to New Orleans and then by river to Little Rock where it is now in a memorial park for people to visit. Lowell went back with his son Tom and he “cried like a baby seeing his old ship,” Tom said. Upon returning from the war, he was walking down main street Montevideo, Minnesota, and asked his sister, Audrey (who is still alive at 97), who she thinks is the prettiest girl in town. Audrey pointed out Suzanne Crandall across the street and said, “there she is”. At that moment, Lowell found the love of his life. During this time, he started college on the GI bill at Macalester College where he received his four-year degree and subsequently got a job working for the state of Minnesota. Around the mid60s, he returned to college to get his master’s degree at Florida State University (where his love of Florida began) for advancement purposes. Lowell and Suzanne raised three boys, Douglas, Thomas, and Richard, who gave them four grandchildren and eight grandchildren. Retiring at the earliest possible point, they decided to move to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and joined Lowell’s sister there. Not retired for too long, they decided to work with her to run an apartment complex for ten years as an extra source of income. Once that ended, they moved to the Villages in Central Florida with her and bought homes next to each other. When he is not spending time with family, Lowell has many hobbies. His most interesting hobby is that as a collector of casino chips as well as newspapers from major events in America. Many of these collections have been given to his great-grandson, Sam, who is named after his father. Above everything, Lowell has had a great life and feels lucky enough to live through 95 years of watching his family grow and seeing the world change. He looks forward to many more years of it.