Robertson Delos Ward

June 6, 1955 - January 13, 2021

Robertson Delos Ward was a loving husband, wonderful father, tried and true friend, brilliant physician, and dedicated member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He fought a noble battle with ALS with patience and humility, beautifully allowing his family to serve and care for him. He passed away on January 13, 2021 at 2:15 p.m., surrounded by his wife, children, and grandkids. He was born to James Robertson Ward and Mary Lorena Lotts on June 6, 1955 in Chicago, Illinois. Rob was an inquisitive child from the beginning. His 4th grade elementary teacher noticed his aptitude for the sciences and encouraged him to keep exploring this natural gift. He did so by creating new inventions and experiments that wowed his childhood friends and cousins. He had a persistent need to understand the way the world worked. In addition to the sciences, in high school he explored other talents, including his great singing voice—a talent he continued to develop his whole life. Rob was an avid runner, joined the track team in high school, and became a marathon runner later in life. Other high school honorable mentions include: managing the school radio station, producing a movie with his friends, lifeguarding, attending the Culver Naval Academy, and working at a nature preserve. He graduated from Glenbard West High School in 1973. Rob attended Iowa State University earning a Bachelor of Science with Distinction in an individualized major - Community Medicine Cultural Perspectives. His focus was on medicine through an anthropological lens, curious about the cultural connections between community and health. He attended Medical School at the University of Illinois, Chicago where he graduated from the Abraham Lincoln School of Medicine. He completed his medical residency at the University of Cincinnati, College of Medicine, and was awarded the Resident of the Year in 1984. During this time, Rob attended a program called, Lend-a-Hand, where he was influenced by a man named Finely Sizemore who changed the trajectory of his medical career and influenced him to practice rural medicine. To save every penny he could, he rode a rusty Robin Hood three-speed bicycle with his medical books strapped to a homemade box on his handlebars. He claimed it saved $2.00 a day. Not only did he ride that bike all around the streets of Chicago, he also completed a 1,600 mile trip around Lake Michigan with close friends. The highlight for them was being asked to leave an all-you-can-eat buffet by the owner because they were consuming an unreasonable amount of food. Rob set up a solo practice in Butler, Kentucky and soon welcomed two sons to the world, Brandon Simon Ward and Shane Robertson Ward. Brandon is the spitting image of Rob. They share a zeal for learning and technology as well as a deep curiosity about all things. Shane is Rob’s double, enjoying the same passion for building, creating, having a well-equipped workshop, and a love for quality adhesives. In addition to being the town physician and a father, Rob worked a 27 acre family farm raising chickens, horses, and cattle. He built his sons a full size baseball diamond on the farmland, a deluxe treehouse, and a chicken coop they affectionately called “Fort Chicken”. The boys don’t remember him ever missing a sporting event and their fondest memories were hiking, sitting around a campfire together while camping in the Kentucky wilderness, and enjoying egg-in-a-holes prepared on a propane stove, Rob’s culinary specialty. Rob served initially as Brandon’s Cub Scout Master. Shane was not old enough to join yet and became jealous of his brother’s uniform and pinewood derby cars. To solve this dilemma, Rob created the “Explorer Club,” a highly exclusive outdoors club, whose members consisted of himself and Shane. Explorer Club is currently accepting new members. His love of the outdoors, maps, and meteorology bordered on obsession. He knew the exact barometric pressure, elevation, and GPS coordinates at his location at all times. He proudly drove a Chevy Suburban for 260k miles, primarily due to the magic of Seafoam. Known for speeding home to catch the beginning of MacGyver (and for speeding in general), he was a man who had a tool for every job. Pleased to be known as a prepper, his workshop was ready for any project, and he had food storage, water barrels, medical supplies, cash, and survival gear on the ready. Rob’s 38 year career as a physician was packed full of accomplishments. He spent over a decade serving a rural community as the town’s family physician and started a community focused addiction practice called Project Reach. Rob launched several functional medicine clinics that specialized in neurobiology balance, including Utah BioBalance in Provo, Utah. In his final years he returned to family practice at the Central Valley Medical Center, where he was the beloved physician of many. Rob’s purpose in life was to serve others. He held special love for serving rural communities and had the uncanny talent in explaining complex health concepts in simple, easy to understand ways. In this spirit, he authored a book for the Biotech company, ASEA, entitled “Healthy Cells, Healthy Life.” He became known as the famous, Redox Doc, who kindly signed copy after copy of his book for fans who adored his kind nature, medical genius, and handsome looks. He has been described as a physician who became a well-worn tool, like the woodworking tools the Savior learned to use as a child. He had become polished and smooth in the Master’s hands. Rob was introduced to Diane Mangum by a mutual friend. It was an instant love story. He quickly moved to Utah and they were sealed in the Provo Temple on August 22, 2015. They set out on an immediate adventure traveling the globe, but were happiest holding hands down the aisles of Home Depot together on a Saturday night. It was easy to see Rob’s affection for Diane. He adored, cherished, and honored her. He admired her talents, was smitten by her voice, enchanted by her teaching skills, and was known by her girlfriends as the most romantic guy around. Together, Rob and Diane remodeled their home and turned their backyard into an extraordinary garden. His passion was to grow every vegetable God had provided on our beautiful earth and to learn a unique life lesson from each. Nothing brought Rob more joy than watching his grandchildren pick and eat currants, raspberries, and fresh peas he had planted. He designed a grand tree house last summer, built under his watchful eye from his wheelchair, as he planned for his grandchildren’s future visits. In Utah, Rob gained three delightful children. In more than miraculous ways, Hannah (who shares his birthday) inherited his leadership abilities. They could plan a vacation, gather a group, map out any excursion, and make the perfect itinerary together. Lennon has his medical and meteorological mind, and the two of them spent countless hours talking about facts, facts, and more facts. Max received Rob’s ability to dream. Sitting on the couch, they discussed and interpreted each dream with meaning and spiritual application. On their travels, you could find Rob ordering anything from guinea pig to sea bugs to ox tail stew. He was a man who won every rib eating contest and usually started the morning with cold beans and mustard. No holiday was complete without his Grandma’s famous oyster casserole, which no one else ate, even when bribed with $20 on the spot. Known for his immense vocabulary, his family enjoyed phrases such as “ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny” on a regular basis but rarely knew what he was talking about. We doubt anyone could match his robust glossary of terminology. Proud of his youthful appearance, he would be happy for you to know he won countless stuffed animals at every “Guess Your Age” theme park booth he approached. Rob was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on September 24, 2011, at the age of 56. His life long journey for truth had finally been answered. He was a spiritual giant, full of light and wisdom. He prayed with conviction and fervor, and desired to receive answers from the Lord. He had humility and was a man filled with gratitude. He served as the First Counselor in the Edgemont 8th Ward, where he made life-long relationships with the youth, especially the young men. He bonded with them over campouts and high adventure hikes. As a recent convert, Rob was never able to serve a mission, but is planning to be alongside each of his beloved priests as a companion from the other side of the veil. He is survived by his wife, Diane Ward; sons, Brandon Ward (Cielle), Shane Ward (Carly), Max Mangum; daughters, Hannah Curtis (Matthew), Lennon Mangum; brother, Jeff Ward (Julie); grandchildren, Gavin, Brannigan, Pendleton, and June. He was also happy to call Rodney Wells (Stacy), Mark Wells (Kamon), Kerry Elliott (1980-2008), Robbie Elliott (Kathryn), and Kristin Bettinger (Travis) his family, and even happier to be PaPaw to Destiny, Kaylin, Kenton, Madison, Max, Elliott, and Ivy. Due to Covid-19, the funeral will be family only, but will be live streamed at 11:00 a.m. MT, Wednesday, January 20, 2021. The link to the viewing of Robertson Ward’s funeral is https://zoom.us/j/97865937143. This is a Zoom link. Visitation will be on Tuesday, January 19th, from 6-8:00 p.m. MT at the Berg Mortuary of Provo located at 185 East Center Street, Provo, Utah. Interment at East Lawn Memorial Cemetery in Provo, following the funeral. Condolences may be expressed to the family at www.bergmortuary.com.