Fr. Richard J. Ward
Born May 19, 1931, Framingham, Massachusetts
Entered into Rest April 7, 2005, Long Beach, California

The Very Reverend Father Richard J. Ward, OSJD, formerly of Mills, Massachusetts, passed away peacefully at Wells House Hospice in Long Beach, California on April 7, 2005.
He was born in Framingham, Massachusetts to parents John J. and Helen (Burns) Ward of Mills, Pennsylvania. He is survived by his sister Helen and her husband Merle Ray of Uxbridge, Massachusetts.
He was an RN, a skid row alcoholic and later became sober at Central Islip Hospital in New York and remained so for more than 30 years. He then went to work for the Internal Revenue Service and retired from civil service in 1991 when he moved to California. He overcame grave medical challenges throughout his life and reached his dream of becoming an ordained priest with the Free Catholic Diocese of St. Columba on February 12, 1994. His ministry focused on outreach to young street addicts in Long Beach, California (Order of St. John the Divine) and San Diego, California (Our Lady of the Streets).
At his passing he was Prior Provencial, Province of St. Michael and St. James, of the National Catholic Church of America, in a life dedicated to love and service.