I received an email this morning concerning the weather here in Atlanta. It was too nice. Sunny, bright blue skies. Was that OK?

Today was the day of Dr. Ward's funeral and campuswide memorial service. Gray clouds and rain seemed more appropriate for such a sad day, the email said.

I thought about that for a second. A sunny day ... Actually, I don't think Dr. Ward would have wanted it any other way.

That sunshine is just Dr. Ward smiling down from heaven upon all of us at Emory, a community he made his own for 80 years. He would want us to celebrate his life not mourn his passing.

Gray skies are the last thing you'd expect the day of Dr. Ward's memorial service.

Early this morning, Dr. Judson C. "Jake" Ward 33C 36G, dean of alumni (his senior portrait is at right), was laid to rest in the family plot in Cobb County, northwest of Atlanta. In the afternoon, hundreds of his friends gathered at Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church to say goodbye. A reception followed at the Miller-Ward Alumni House, Ward's campus home the final nine years of his life.

David Jones 76T, senior pastor of Glenn Memorial UMC was there in Cobb and he was the first speaker at the memorial, where a portrait of Ward, ringed in bright flowers, decorated the front. Jones said it was appropriate that Glenn host the service for Ward, who worshiped there and also taught Sunday School for 56 years, "No one was more at home in this sanctuary or on this campus than Jake Ward," he said.

"Imagine talking to the same people for 56 years. That's something no preacher can get his head around," said Larry Bauman 55T 71T, Glenn Memorial UMC pastor, emeritus, of the class that was eventually called 'the Jake Ward Class,' because of its iconic instructor.

More than one speaker recalled their first meeting with Ward. "I was a guest in his office for a couple of history lessons," said President Jim Wagner. Some of those lessons Ward had typed for his benefit, Wagner quipped, just in case he forgot them.

"Jake knocked on my door at Vanderbilt in 1969," said President Emeritus James Laney 94H, who at the time was a professor at the Nashville school. "He is responsible more than anyone else for my coming to Emory," said Laney, who would serve as dean of the Candler School of Theology before being named president in 1978.

"I later found out who he was," said Laney of Ward, who was then dean of the faculty at Emory. "I'd never had a dean knock on my door. I had never had an assistant dean knock on my door. I had always been summoned to them.

He was my first boss here and my first mentor," Laney continued. "And his appointment as dean of alumni was magical. He brought life and zest to the alumni association."

"He was truly a good man."

-- Eric Rangus, director, communications, EAA

Read more about Dr. Ward's life

See a slide show of Dr. Ward through the years

Share your memories

April 14, 1912 is the day the titanic struck the iceberg. No, I don't know this because I've seen the movie Titanic dozens of times, but I know this because it's the day after Judson C. Ward 33C 36G was born.

Dr. Ward, Jake, Dean of Alumni, husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, teacher, mentor, and friend. These names barely begin to scratch the surface of the long and purposeful life that Dr. Ward lived.

I knew Dr. Ward as the Dean of Alumni and one of the namesakes of the Miller-Ward Alumni House. It was a treat to spend time with him, whether it was a passing hello in the hall or when he stopped by my office for a visit. He would sometimes give me a kiss on the cheek or squeeze my hand. He knew how to make you feel appreciated. The handwritten notes, the correspondence he fired off on his typewriter, the favors he did without hesitation--these are treasured memories by all who received them.

I will always remember April 13, the birthday of a wonderful, giving man and the weekend the Titanic sank. I only know this because Dr. Ward told me so. He thought that it was the biggest event that took place the weekend of his birth--not in my eyes. Happy Birthday Jake!

Everyone has their favorite Dr. Ward story. Please share your story with us.

For more information on Dr. Ward, read a commemorative blog post from our archives or view his 96th birthday in photos.

--Missy Rodil, EAA Miller-Ward Alumni House director

Dr. Judson C. "Jake" Ward 33C 36G, dean of alumni, passed away this morning, peacefully in his sleep. He was 97 years old.

Ward's positive mark on the Emory community is almost impossible to measure. His accomplishments as a student, teacher, administrator and dean are easy to quantify, but the positive light he brought to Emory with his mere presence will forever burn brightly in the minds and hearts of everyone who met him.

His hands and his heart helped build Emory and our community could not have grown into what it is without him.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Dr. Ward's wife, Sue, their four children, five grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

If you would like to leave your own memory of Dr. Ward, please leave a comment below.

--Eric Rangus, director of communications, EAA

Updated: Tuesday, November 3, 12:32 p.m.

A University-wide memorial service will be held for Dr. Ward at Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church on Wednesday, November 4, at 2:30 p.m. Parking will be available in visitors lots around campus. A reception will follow at the Miller-Ward Alumni House (at 815 Houston Mill Road). During the reception, guests are welcome to sign a condolence book, which will be presented to the Ward family.

If you are unable to attend the memorial or the reception, EAAvesdropping will be updated with the full story.

Updated: Wednesday, November 4, 8:59 p.m.

Click here to read about Dr. Ward's memorial service

See a slide show of Dr. Ward through the years

-- Eric Rangus, director of communications, EAA

The official University headquarters for alumni activities, the Miller-Ward Alumni House is named for Prentice Miller 27C 28G, who was the first dean of Emory alumni, and Judson C. "Jake" Ward 33C 36G, the current dean of alumni. Dr. Ward celebrated his 97th birthday this past spring and still comes in to work at Miller-Ward every week!

For the past few months, Miller-Ward has been my workplace as well. (It is just as beautiful inside. The trade-off is that my office is the same temperature as Siberia. Approximately.)

Sadly, this is my last day as an intern at the EAA, and so I bid you farewell. I've been feeling a bit nostalgic, given that: a) I no longer have a legitimate excuse to hang around Emory's campus every day; b) the EAA is preparing for the arrival of Emory's undergraduates in a couple of weeks, my fellow EAA interns are now on their way back to college, and in the midst of that back-to-school rush I will be heading into the dreaded "real world"; and c) this internship has been amazing. Where else can you play around on Facebook, sip champagne at exclusive fashion events, browse through Alice Walker's literary archives, and call it all "work"?

OK, so there was serious work, too. I've been able to build a more extensive portfolio here than I have anywhere--full of everything from articles for Emory Report to videos from EAA events; from a new design for this blog to pieces in EmoryWire; from the launch of the EAA's Facebook fan page to...you get the idea. It's been a busy summer!

And while I'm a little wistful today, I'm also excited to put all the skills that I've honed here at the EAA to good use at my new communications job at The Galloway School.

Until next time! Or the next alumni event in Atlanta.

-- Erin Crews 09C 09G, communications intern, EAA

Read part 2 ...

Read part 1 ...

Where to begin ... We have not had electricity for most of the week, which makes posting a blog on the Internet very difficult! This blog entry is from Sunday:

Lots of things have been happening here la Republica Dominicana … from meeting our host families to going on a long walk in the countryside with a community health nurse. Above all else, we’re in good form and learning new things all the time!

We spent last night getting better acquainted with our host families. The generosity here is enormous. Each pair of students ate a delicious dinner last night and learned more about their families. Living with host families allows students to truly be immersed in the Dominican culture and also to practice their Spanish. Some of the students even got to go to a fund-raiser for the local high school with their host brother!

This morning we got a tour of the maternity ward of the local public hospital where our mentor, Dr. Foster, has been collaborating with Dominican nurses to research how to improve maternal and newborn death rates. We were struck by the simplicity of the hospital but also the knowledge of the nurses, who actually practice more like midwives.

They attend all normally progressing births and usually only call the physician for complications. They do the best they can with what they have within the public system and we were so lucky to have the opportunity to learn from them.

Later we took a long and bumpy ride down a dirt road into the countryside. The trip was to learn about how people live outside of the city as well as what health resources are available to them.

We went to visit the house of a woman named Aracelis who used to work as a nurse in the maternity ward at the public hospital but now works as a public health nurse in “the campo,” or countryside. Every day she travels by foot into the mountains to make house calls to her patients who may live several hours away. She took us on a walking tour of the area and we got to enjoy its beauty as well as appreciate the difficulty getting around and the lack of resources available for her to utilize. She is a true model of what it means to be a community nurse and to live and work among the people.

Tomorrow in the morning we will be accompanying nursing students from the local university on their rounds to visit patients in the community. We will get to see the local people in their homes and how they deal with sickness as well as how they work to navigate the health care system

In the afternoon we will be visiting the home of the Mirabal sisters, who are important martyrs in the struggle against the brutal dictator, Rafael Leonidas Trujillo, who ruled the Dominican Republic for decades.

It will be a very special celebration because it is International Women's Day, and they will also be recognizing the role of the sisters in the fight for justice for the country. We will write more tomorrow about the history of the Dominican Republic, our time in the community, and our visit to the museum.

Hasta la proxima,

-- Hunter Keys 11N and Abby Weil 11N, students, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing