This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: WARD, LAPOINTE, SWAIM Classification: Obituary Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/wdB.2ACE/335 Message Board Post: This lady probably is not connected to my WARD line. I am posting it as a courtesy to anyone interested. Rapid City:- Inez Mary WARD, 95, of Rapid City, passed away Wednesday, July 30, at the Sioux San Hospital in Rapid City. Inez was born on January 28, 1908, in Pine Ridge, SD, to W.H. SWAIM and Eva LAPOINTE. She was married to David WARD of Toppenish, WA. They had two sons, David C. WARD of Spokane, WA, and Milton James WARD of Toppenish, WA. Inez had a beautiful and interesting life. At the age of 5 in 1913 she accompanied her grandmother Jennie LaPointe, who was a member of the Wild Bill Hickok Indian Show and Circus, on a trip to Europe. The group was in Germany when the first World War was declared. She remembered a baby elephant that became her friend. Inez was educated in Indian boarding schools in South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas. After graduating from the Haskell Institute, Lawrence, KS, she worked her way through 3 years of Nurse training at the St. Joseph Hospital, in Kansas City, MO. After finishing school, Inez worked for the BIA as a nurse in South Dakota, Orego! n, Arizona, New Mexico and Washington. She settled down in Toppenish, WA, where she lived and worked as a nurse at the Indian Clinic and at the community hospital. After leaving the BIA she worked for public health until her retirement. In 1991 she returned to Rapid City to live with her sister. Now she has gone to join her sister Lillian Wilson. Left to mourn her passing are her two sons, David WARD of Toppenish, WA, and Milton James WARD, one sister, Bernice BLANKENSHIP, of Rapid City, one niece, Mary Louise CAMPBELL, several grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and many relatives and friends. We all loved Inez for herself and for her unfailing cheerfulness and generosity. And we will miss her for the rest of our lives. A graveside memorial service will be held 2 p.m. Friday, August 1, 2003, at Mountain View Cemetery with Fr. Chris Mananhan officiating. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of the Campbell, Paula & Quinn Funeral Home in Rapid City." Published in the Rapid City Journal on 31 July 2003. ---end----