Homer Ward

Homer Leroy Ward, longtime Fairbury banker, former Fairbury mayor, and lifetime community booster, died Feb. 14, 2025, at the age of 92.He was born Oct. 28, 1932, on the family farm southeast of Daykin, to Faye Edward Ward and Hildegard Charlotte (Picker) Ward. He attended grade school at District 86 and graduated from Daykin High School in 1950. He worked on the family farm for two years before he was drafted into the Army in 1952 during the Korean War. He completed basic training at Breckinridge, Kentucky, and then attended Basic Leadership School for eight weeks. In 1953, he was sent to Fort Lewis, Washington, where he boarded a ship to Japan. It was delayed at port and then sent to San Francisco to pick up additional troops. Before the ship left, South Korea and North Korea had declared a truce.In Korea, he was stationed along the Demilitarized Zone and became leader of the Troop Information and Education Section. He received a Korean Service Medal, a National Defense Service Medal, a United States Service Medal, and a Good Conduct Medal. He was discharged in 1955 at the rank of corporal.After returning from Korea, he enrolled in Fairbury Junior College. While taking classes, he worked as a draftsman for the City of Fairbury and then in the engineering department at the Rock Island Railroad. He graduated with a diploma in pre-engineering in 1957 and attended Kansas State University for a semester. He struggled with the size of classes and the university, though, and returned to Fairbury.His connections in a small town paid off, as they would again and again during his life. He rented an apartment from Frank Kubes, who owned a downtown liquor store where Homer worked occasionally while in college. The apartment, in a house at 12th and H streets, was across the street from the home of George Newton, who hired Homer as a car salesman at Newton Motor Company. He worked there for four years. Homer had met Maxine Swett while in college, and they married on June 1, 1958. They eventually bought the apartment building where they lived and turned it into a home where they raised their three children: Douglas, Diane, and David. Homer finished the basement, built kitchen cabinets, and turned the upstairs apartment into bedrooms for the three children, who were born between 1961 and 1966. He also created a a patio, a dog kennel, and a shop, and he did a nearly complete renovation of the house in the 1970s.In 1964, Earl Else hired Homer as a clerk at the Fairbury State Bank. While at the bank, he created the Fairbury Insurance Agency, of which he was part owner. After a few years, he became a loan officer and eventually executive vice president of the bank, secretary to the Board of Directors, and a partial owner. In the early 1970s, he played a role in the bank’s move from Fourth and E streets to a new building with a drive-up window at Fifth and F streets.He left the Fairbury State Bank in 1995 when it was sold to American National Bank. He joined Union Bank as a vice president and was tasked with acquiring land and building a branch office at the corner of 14th and K streets. He worked there until his retirement in 2004.For five decades, he served as a city booster, community organizer, and civic leader. In 1961, he was elected to City Council on the Citizens’ Non-Partisan ticket, which promised to restore fairness and goodwill to city government and opposed efforts to install parking meters downtown. He was re-elected in 1964, eventually serving five years. He later served as city treasurer from 1967 to 1972.In the late 1960s and early 1970s, he served as the racetrack manager at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds, maintaining the track and the pits, flagging races, and handing out trophies to winners.He served as president of the Fairbury Junior Chamber of Commerce in 1968, helping organize the Miss Nebraska Pageant. He received the Chamber of Commerce Community Service Award in 1983 for his work on economic development. Gov. Bob Kerry appointed him to the Nebraska Diplomats in 1982, and he served as its president in 1989. He was named the Diplomat of the Year in 1992 for his work on economic development in the state. He was a member of the Fairbury Industrial Development Corporation, serving as president in 1982. He was also chairman of the Fairbury Airport Authority, and he worked to extend the runway at the airport so that larger planes could take off and land.He was a board member of Educational Service Unit 5, a member of the Fairbury Civic Foundation, the Nebraska Health Care Foundation, Fairbury High School Booster Club, SCC Booster Club, Jefferson County Historical Society, the Jefferson County Republican Party, Rotary, Elks, Pheasants Forever, the American Legion, and the VFW. He was also a long-time member of the Methodist Church, serving as finance chairman for five decades.He served three terms as mayor of Fairbury, from 2008 to 2020, again working to restore fairness and goodwill to city government. He recruited Colin Bielser as city administrator, pushed to tear down dilapidated buildings, shut down an aging power plant, and worked to improve electric distribution and the wastewater treatment plant. He and Maxine moved to 1705 K St. in 1993. Behind the house, Homer added a metal building, which became a wood shop. He used lumber from the family farm and from other places around Jefferson County to build two desks, a checkerboard table, and cabinets for the house. He then began creating bowls, combining woods into intricate patterns and finding ways to bring out the natural grain and colors of the wood. He donated several of those bowls, which sold for hundreds of dollars at community fundraisers. His prized creations were wood replicas of a 1950s-era Allis Chalmers tractor like the one his father used. He served as president and board member of Jefferson County Health and Life, president of its foundation, and chairman of the capital campaign. In 2001, he was elected the first chairman of the Cedarwood Assisted Living board, serving on the board for 20 years and helping oversee construction of the assisted living apartments connected to Jefferson Community Health and Life. He and Maxine moved to Cedarwood in 2022. He is survived by a brother, Roger Ward, and his wife, Kay, of Albuquerque, New Mexico; his children, Doug Ward and his wife, Juli Warren-Ward, of Lawrence, Kansas; Diane Young and her husband, Doug, of Broomfield, Colorado; and Dave Ward and his wife, Mandi, of Spencer, Iowa; and grandchildren Sydney Whitehead and her husband, John; Ethan Ward and his wife, El Whitson; Isaac Ward, Grant Ward, and Isla Ward. Burial will be at the Fairbury Cemetery. Memorials can be made to family choice. Even better, you could honor Homer’s memory by volunteering and finding ways to improve life in your community. That would make Homer proud. Family will greet friends at Gerdes-Meyer Funeral Home on Sunday, February 23 from 5 to 7 P.M. and Services will be held at the Fairbury Methodist Church on Monday, February 24 at 10:30 A.M. Military Honors will follow at the Methodist Church in Fairbury. Burial will follow at the Fairbury City Cemetery. Gerdes-Meyer is assisting with arrangements.

Nancy C. McGee

Lawrence Keuten

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