George B.P. Ward, 96, lawyer, state delegate

                    By Stephanie Desmon
                          Sun Staff
                          Originally published January 21, 2003

                    George B.P. Ward, a retired lawyer who served a term in the Maryland
                    House of Delegates in the 1930s, died Saturday of renal failure at his
                    home in Owings Mills. He was 96.

                    Born in Baltimore, Mr. Ward graduated from the Johns Hopkins
                    University in 1928 and earned a degree from Harvard Law School in
                    1931. He served many years as a lawyer in Baltimore City and Baltimore
                    County and was a member of both bar associations. His practice was
                    primarily in the areas of probate and real estate law, and he acted as
                    counsel to several banks and building and loan associations. He retired
                    from the active practice of law in 1982.

                    Mr. Ward, who had been chairman of what was then the Reisterstown
                    Democratic Club, was elected delegate in 1934. He represented
                    Baltimore County, which at the time had six at-large delegates. His son,
                    George Ward Jr. of Annapolis, said his father didn't talk much about his
                    years in the State House and recalled he passed one piece of legislation -
                    a bill that had "something to do with a cheaper license for a trailer
                    attached to a car."

                    Mr. Ward was defeated by the Democratic ticket of political chieftain H.
                    Street Baldwin that swept into office in 1938.

                    A resident for much of his life of what began as a rural Owings Mills, Mr.
                    Ward was a life member of the Owings Mills Volunteer Fire Company
                    and was its treasurer for more than 20 years. The fire station was built on
                    a parcel on his grandfather's farm in 1930, and Mr. Ward lived next door
                    to it for many years. That meant he was often the first to arrive after the
                    sound of an alarm, and he frequently drove an engine to the scene of the
                    fire. In 1935, he was president of the Baltimore County Volunteer
                    Firemen's Association.

                    In 1931, he married Henrietta Peterson, who died in 1987.

                    A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday at St. Thomas
                    Church, Garrison Forest at 232 St. Thomas Lane, where he was a
                    member.

                    In addition to his son, he is survived by his wife, Laverne Zesch Ward;
                    another son, John P. Ward of Owings Mills; four stepchildren, Helen Z.
                    Ward of Owings Mills, Ronald Zesch of Ridgewood, N.J., and Loren
                    Zesch and Marilyn Zesch, both of New York; six grandchildren; and eight
                    great-grandchildren.

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