Goodbye to Grampy Ward

With heavy hearts and sincere gratitude, today we celebrate the life of Eldon Ward Salsman.

As stated in his obituary, Ward's wishes were that we not attend any funeral in his honour, but it just doesn't feel right to do nothing today, so here is what I would have said in such a setting.

Ward was born on September 3rd, 1936, in Stormont. As a young boy, Ward moved from Country Harbour to Pictou County, eventually residing on Tanner Hill Road in 1945. This remained his home until he passed away on May 16, 2019, at the Aberdeen Hospital, New Glasgow.

Ward became an electrician by trade, as he served in the Royal Canadian Navy with his brother Mel starting in 1954. His naval career took him around the world, serving on the HMCS Bonaventure “Bonny” aircraft carrier, which is now memorialized in Point Pleasant Park in Halifax. As Ward did not like being told what to do, he chose to leave the Navy after meeting his commitment of one term, and shared that he would never again choose another job that involved standing in a line or doing "shark watches" so that your comrades could get clean in the ocean. We are not 100% certain, but we think Ward is at right in this picture.

About 35 years ago, in the early '80s and while raising teenage twin daughters and separated from his wife, Ward met my mother-in-law, Doris. As Kevin and I attended high school and began dating, Ward was also courting her. As a result of this, we started to collect many wonderful memories with this man.

Ward was a very hard worker with strong work ethic. He even still worked this year, at age 82, as a safety auditor for several companies. Each Spring, including this April, Ward began preparing to plant his massive fields of beans, green peppers, potatoes, tomatoes and turnip. Later in the year, his family and friends would reap the benefits of his harvest and this brought him great joy. Highlight of our Thanksgiving or Christmas dinners was often a very big, fresh turkey that he raised, and a LOT of beans, potatoes and turnip that we looked forward to sharing together. This seems to be the earliest photo I have of one such family gathering, taken in 1991 and showing his wonderful smile.

When we married in 1997, I was honoured to have Ward serve as my father-in-law.

In 2003, as we began to raise our family, we moved back to Pictou County, and these pictures show how our tradition of family dinners together continued. Our oldest son, Tom, is shown here very young. He is now 18 and I think looks a lot like that young Navy boy shown earlier.

We purchased our current home in Lyon's Brook, and Ward began what seemed to be an endless task, using his skills as an electrician to eventually rewire our entire house. We will miss his assistance, too!

Our children will forever remember Ward as a kind and loving example of a man, who they have come to call "Grampy Ward". These pictures include Tom and Morgan, from 2004 (when Tom was still called Tommy and age 4) and 2010 (when Morgan was 6 and still loved pink). A lot has changed since then, while much also stayed the same.

In 2010, we shared a memorable fishing trip at Glenn and Helen Salter's pond.

I don't think Ward ever really stopped courting Doris. Often, when I'd come for a visit, I'd hear about the beautiful flowers Ward had brought for her, or Ward would be sitting there waiting at the table with a pleasant greeting as well. They liked to go for rides together, touring our beautiful province in what I thought of as sort of obscure, quiet places at times. 

At his daily trip for coffee at Tim Horton's in Alma, Ward enjoyed the company of many friends who we are sure are also feeling his absence today. Furthermore, Ward has many friends in Rattling Brook, Newfoundland, where he enjoyed taking a fishing trip almost annually each Fall.

Much like many in his generation, Ward wasn't too excited about computers... but with two computer geeks in his life he really didn't stand a chance of ignoring them. When I taught a community computer class in 2007, I managed to get him and Doris there, and Ward learned just enough so that each day he could visit Doris and use the computer to play Hearts.

In September of 2016, we celebrated Ward's 80th birthday together, from which I am now pleased to have this video and picture to remember him:

I think my fondest personal memory of Ward is from summer of 2017. Together, we ripped out Doris' old deck and he rebuilt the supports underneath, then he guided me as I rebuilt the rest. When it was all done, we needed to get rid of the rotten wood. Ward kept a burn pile on his property, so we loaded his truck and I went there with him to unload the mess. When we finished, he decided he wanted to show me more of his beautiful property. He proceeded to drive me down what I thought was barely a walking path. Honestly, he sort of scared me, as he drove a bit fast through the rough territory and the tree branches attacked his truck. I thought for sure we were going to get stuck out there where no one would be quite sure how to quickly find us, but eventually he stopped the truck and we got out. He proceeded to show me that what I thought was a path was actually the original highway that ran through Pictou County years ago. It crosses a brook where I remember him taking us fishing with our kids. He spoke of his fond memories of childhood, his time in the Navy, of years gone by and how much he loved his home.

Sadly, this takes me to the final chapter in Ward's time here with us. This past year has been very tough for Ward. One of his daughters was diagnosed with cancer and passed away last May, and he struggled a lot with the grief that came from that. We were just this month starting to again see some of the old Ward, when he decided it was time to start that Spring routine of his again. While splitting wood, Ward somehow managed to injure his back, and this led to him being hospitalized. Of course, Ward did not at all like being unable to get out and move around. The nurses struggled to keep him in bed, and he experienced a few falls,which led us to understand he would not be able to come home again with us. At about 11:30 am, I left Doris alone with him, telling her I'd return soon with a coffee. Just minutes after that, he quietly slipped away from us in her arms. As he liked to signal at times, "peace".

As stated as I began writing this, Ward did not want any funeral with all his family and friends in attendance, but just a very private service. In lieu of that, in celebration of Ward's life, we will be hosting an afternoon gathering for Ward's family and friends - at Lyon's Brook Hall on Saturday, May 25th, 2-4 pm.

Update after original post:We will be hosting an afternoon gathering to honour this man who meant so very much to all of us. Please feel free to bring any pictures or stories you wish to share, hugs and perhaps a card for Doris. We will have some sandwiches or sweets to share as we visit each other. We do not need everyone to bring food :-)