By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
joanne@wktv.org
“He was a person who cared,” is how many would describe longtime Wyoming resident Jim Ward.
Ward died in October at the age of 71, but left a legacy that impacted both the community he lived in, Wyoming, and the school his children attended, Kelloggsville Public Schools. This Thursday, April 28, Ward will be honored for his contributions to the City of Wyoming in a special Arbor Day celebration at Kelloggsville High School, 4787 S. Division Ave. The program, which will include the planting of an oak tree, is set for 10 a.m.
“Some people would see something that wasn’t right and would say ‘Isn’t this horrible,’ and that would be it,” said Ward’s wife, Jane. “Jim would see it and say ‘There has to be something we could do,’ and then it would be let’s see who we can get to help.”
It was in 2014 at a National Night Out neighborhood event that Ward would meet Estelle Slootmaker, who along with Ward and Greg Bryan founded the Wyoming Tree Commission or The Tree Amigos.
“I was concerned about the health of our oak trees because of the spongy moth infestation so I got permission to set up a table with information on caring for our oak trees,” Slootmaker said of the National Night Out event. “Jim and Jane approached me and chatted with me as did Greg Bryan.
“I was so tickled pink to find other tree huggers in my neighborhood.”
That chance meeting would lead to Slootmaker getting a phone call from Bryan asking her to meet with him and Ward and thus The Tree Amigos was born. A couple of years later, the Wyoming City Council would officially establish the group as the Wyoming Tree Commission.
The goal of the group over the years has been to improve the tree canopy in the City of Wyoming along with getting a Tree City USA designation and through Ward’s dedication the Commission has accomplished many of those goals, according to Slootmaker.
“Jim was our mighty oak,” Slootmaker said. “He was there to plant the idea of a tree commission when our little group of neighbors first met – and he was integral to every project we completed. We miss him so very much.”
Among the Tree Commission’s accomplishments was a Tree City USA designation for the City of Wyoming from 2016 to 2021, the 16-tree Beverly Bryan Community Orchard at Wyoming West Elementary School, and tree plantings in several Wyoming neighborhoods along with planting one of the oldest trees in the world, a Dawn Redwood, at Wyoming’s Regional Center.
Jane Ward said her husband always had cared about the environment and was instrumental in getting an Earth Day committee going at their church.
A Godwin Heights graduate, Ward also was active on the neighborhood watch and involved in the teacher union at Forest Hills, where he served as the first media specialist at Forest Hills Northern High School. Along with his environmental passion, Ward had a passion for education and children, serving as the Quiz Bowl team coach and advising the National Honor Society.
That passion was not only reserved to Forest Hills, where Ward taught, but also to Kelloggsville, where his daughters had attended.
Because of his background as a media specialist, Ward had served as a consultant on the Kelloggsville High School’s library during a 2016 renovation project. It was through his efforts that he helped bring a Kent District Library branch to the school to serve both the community and the students. It also was at the KDL Kelloggsville branch that Ward helped host a tree-focused book discussion.
“He cared about the kids and the community,” Jane Ward said. “He saw a need and tried to do something and get things done.”
Scheduled to be in attendance for Thursday’s program will be Wyoming Mayor Jack Poll, Kelloggsville High School Principal Jim Alston, Kelloggsville High School student groups, and The Tree Amigos/City of Wyoming Tree Commission. The program is free and open to the public.
