Lucy and Bob Ward named to SRSU Hall of Honor

ALPINE – Long-time boosters Lucy and Bob Ward of Alpine will join the Sul Ross State University Athletic Hall of Honor along with football standouts Sam Sparks of San Angelo and Wayne Thorp of Mertzon, as well as two-time basketball captain John Fortenberry of Orange.

The newest inductees will be honored during ceremonies Saturday, October 29 at the annual Athletic Hall of Honor/Distinguished Alumni banquet. The event, part of Homecoming 2011, will begin at 7:30pm in the Espino Conference Center, Morgan University Center.

Since its inception in 1986, 120 former Sul Ross athletes, coaches and outstanding boosters have been elected to the Hall of Honor.

Lucy and Bob Ward

Although the Wards have been members of the Century Club and athletic boosters for years, their proudest Sul Ross moment occurred Saturday, October 1. On that day, their adopted son, Irving Ramirez, was on the Jackson Field gridiron in a Lobo uniform against Texas Lutheran University.

Irving enrolled at Sul Ross and joined the football team shortly after his discharge from the U.S. Marine Corps, where his four-year hitch included tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.

A native of Higgins, Bob Ward graduated from Whitharral High School in 1962. While attending McMurry College (now University), he worked for Clark’s Discount Store, a division of M.N. Landau Stores of New York City. He was promoted to manager of the Hobbs, N.M. store in 1966, the youngest manager in the 42-store chain. He joined the C.G. Morrison Co. in Alpine in 1971 as assistant to the president. He purchased the company in 1987 and has been president since that time. C.G. Morrison Co. operates three retail stores, True Value Hardware, Morrison True Value Gardens and Lucy’s Christmas Cottage.

Bob cited the return of collegiate baseball and subsequent restoration of Kokernot Field as his most memorable Sul Ross athletics events.

Lucy Ward, an Alpine native, graduated from Alpine High School in 1972 and later from Olympic Beauty College, Colorado Springs, Colo. She has worked at C.G. Morrison Co. since 1976 and currently is vice president.

Bob is a member of the Big Bend Amateur Radio Club and Kiwanis Club in addition to the Century Club. He has received the Paul Forchheimer Award from the Alpine Chamber of Commerce, the Janette Bowers Volunteer Award and the True Value/American Red Cross Helping Hand Award. He and Lucy have received several honors as well, including the True Value President’s Award, Radio Shack Pinnacle Award and True Value Co.’s “Best Hardware Store in Town” award.

The Wards have two daughters, Leah, a student at the University of Arizona, and Rachel, who attends Alpine High School. Bob has three daughters, Dona, Debi and Abigail, from a previous marriage. Dona and Debi are Sul Ross graduates and Abigail is a Texas Tech graduate.