Bobby R. Ward

Bobby Ray Ward, 93, of Watkinsville, Georgia, passed away peacefully on October 6, 2026, at his home. His wife of 71 years, Barbara, and those who loved him were with him. He went the way the two of them had always hoped: gently, in his sleep.

Bobby was born February 24, 1933, in Monroe, Georgia, to Henry and Elizabeth Ward. He grew up next door to a girl named Barbara. For years he was simply the boy across the yard, the one with the little dog, the one she watched from her window a bit more often than she let on. Neither of them could have guessed where the short path between their two houses would lead.

Bobby proudly served his country in the United States Navy during the Korean War aboard a minesweeper. Home on leave, he saw the girl next door with new eyes. He asked her father’s blessing, then asked Barbara, and on September 4, 1955, they were married at her family's home. They left together for California while he finished his service. That was the beginning of a 71-year marriage built on commitment, partnership, and Bobby's commitment to providing for his family.

Back in Georgia, Bobby worked for an Athens area coffee company and then served for years as a service advisor and service manager for what would later become Heyward Allen Motor Company in Athens. In 1969, he and Barbara built their dream home in Oconee County on what was then open pastureland. From then on, taking care of that land and the family on it was his life's work.

In 1981, Bobby turned his passion for good grass and a properly manicured lawn into Ward’s Sod Company – one of the first sod companies in Georgia. His business started with his own front lawn, cut and sold one order at a time. It grew into multiple tractor-trailer loads every week sold throughout the Southeast. The business ran on word of mouth, a standard of quality he wouldn't bend, and customers who came back year after year. As one of Oconee County's early small business owners, Bobby helped lay the lawns of homes across the Athens area for decades. He worked into his seventies and passed the business on to his granddaughter Tammie and her late husband, James.

Bobby was a steady presence in a community that grew up around him. He set his own pace, held to it, and let everyone else go around him. He showed his family that success doesn't require doing things the way everyone else does. He believed in tending things before they became problems, whether it was his constant maintenance of his driveway or clearing his lawn of sticks. His grandchildren and great-grandchildren learned that a steady approach and hard work are foundational to character. Many of them still hear him asking, "Are you working hard or hardly working?"

He could seem quiet, but his customers knew his kindness well. Many of them remember hour-long conversations with him. He was appreciative, thankful, and slow to speak a cross word but never short on passion or opinions. He would have kept working until his last day if his health and his body had allowed it.

On September 4, 2026, Bobby and Barbara celebrated 71 years of marriage. "I was very fortunate," she says, "that he was the sort of man that he was."

Bobby was preceded in death by his parents, Henry and Elizabeth Ward; his brother, Gene Ward, a U.S. Air Force test pilot; and his grandson-in-law, James Davis. He is survived by his wife of 71 years, Barbara Ward; his son, Bobby Shane Ward and his daughter-in-law Lisa Ward; his daughter, Cheryl Brown; his grandchildren, Tammie Davis, Marsha Buttimer, and Kris Matthew Ward; and his great-grandchildren, Elijah Davis, Ethan DeLay, Blake DeLay, and Breanna DeLay.

Visitation will be held Friday, October 9, 2026, at 11:00 a.m. at Lord and Stephens Funeral Home on Jimmy Daniel Road in Watkinsville, Georgia. Services are scheduled for 12:00 noon. Entombment will follow at Evergreen Memorial Park, 3655 Atlanta Highway, Athens, Georgia.

Lord & Stephens Funeral Home, WEST, Watkinsville is entrusted with arrangements. www.lordandstephens.com.