Kelly Anne Ward passed away the morning of July 8, 2018, at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, following an accident July 3.
Kelly was born in Somers Point, N.J., on Aug. 17, 1963, to Ronnie and Irene (Jurseck) Ward. She grew up on Golf Club Road in Cape May Court House, N.J., and attended Our Lady Star of the Sea school in Cape May and Wildwood Catholic High School. Kelly started at West Chester University, then attended and graduated from the University of Montana in 1986. Kelly received a Masters in Public Administration from Penn State in 1988, and earned her Ph.D. in Higher Education from Penn State in 1995.
As a young woman, Kelly worked at Hugit's and Acme Markets in Cape May Court House as well as the Eutaw House outside of State College. Between her graduate degrees, Kelly traveled the country and spent time working as a 'liftie' in Sun Valley and Jackson Hole, Wyo. She met the love of her life, Gene Solomon, in 1988. They were married after a thesis-burning party in the shadow of Montana's Mission Mountains on June 12, 1995. Kelly adored her three children: Daisy, Lucy and Henry. She was forever proud of their achievements, sense of adventure and poise.
Professionally, Kelly worked first as service learning director for the Montana Campus Compact, then as director of volunteer action services, and as assistant professor in the College of Educational Leadership and Counseling at the University of Montana. From 1999-2003, she was assistant and associate professor in the School of Educational Studies at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, and she came to Washington State University in 2003. In Pullman, Kelly served as professor, program coordinator and chair in the Department of Educational Leadership and Counseling Psychology (later ELSSCP) from 2003-17. In July 2017, she was appointed vice provost for Faculty Development and Recognition.
Kelly's professional legacy will be marked by her scholarship and service, and her particular interests of work-life balance, faculty career development and institutional change to support fairness, equity and diversity. In addition to being a well-respected teacher, adviser and mentor, Kelly presented and consulted at campuses across the country and around the globe. Kelly's book Academic Motherhood received the American Educational Research Association's Division J Exemplary Publication award in 2013. She was recognized by WSU as Faculty Mentor of the Year and received the College of Education Excellence Award in Teaching, both in 2007. For 12 years, she was the co-editor of the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) Report Series. She received the ASHE Barbara K. Townsend Award in recognition of her efforts to support and encourage faculty development in 2016, and in 2017, she received the ASHE Distinguished Service Award.
Kelly's personal legacy is the impact she had on almost everyone she interacted with. Lifelong friends and casual acquaintances were drawn into her confidence and inspired by her openness, support, caring nature and knack for bringing out the best in others. Kelly shared her enthusiasms with all whom she met. She loved music, dancing, skiing, swimming, long walks, reading, traveling, quilting, horses and horse shows and keeping in touch with her large circle of friends, always ready with a postcard, gift or supportive word.
Kelly loved to travel, especially to the New Jersey beaches, and most especially to 121st Street in Stone Harbor. In the last several years, she traveled with family to France, Spain, Italy, Croatia, Switzerland and Thailand.
Kelly was preceded in death by her mother and is survived by her husband Gene Solomon; children Daisy, Lucy and Henry Ward; father Ronnie Ward, of Mays Landing, N.J.; and sisters Valerie McGrail (Denver) and Denise Lawrence (Boulder, Colo.) and brothers Jeffrey (Manhattan and Cape May Court House, N.J.), Shawn (Naples, Fla.), and Michael Ward (Smithfield, N.C.). A celebration of Kelly's life will be held Saturday, Aug. 4 at 2 p.m. in the M.G. Carey Senior Ballroom at the WSU CUB. Gifts in memory can be sent to the 'Kelly Ward Legacy Fund' at the WSU Foundation (https://go.wsu.edu/kelly-ward-legacy-fund). The Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 3 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Pullman. Kimball Funeral Home has been entrusted with arrangements. Online condolences may be sent to www.kimballfh.com
