Albert "Ward" Minerd
(1895-1972)
Albert
"Ward" Minerd was born on Sept. 2, 1895 near Mill Run, Fayette County, PA, the
son of Lawson and Lutitia (Steyer) Minerd.
His family has been very active and visible in the public eye for many years,
both locally and nationally.
Ward grew up on his parents' farm in Maple Summit, a mountainous area about three miles from Mill Run, near where his great-great grandparents had settled as pioneers in 1791, and to where his grandparents had returned in 1867.
On Jan. 15, 1917, in Uniontown, Fayette County, Ward married Ada Whipkey (1895-1971). She was the daughter of Albert S. Whipkey of Mill Run. They had 5 children – Ferne Lucille Work, Delbert Minerd, Ruth Cunningham, Dalton 'Dale' Minerd and Byron 'Kenneth' Minerd.
Seen
here is a three-generation photograph taken on the Maple Summit farm in
March 1917, when the trees were bare and the shadows strong. Ward proudly holds
their firstborn baby Ferne, posing with Ada (right) and mother Lutitia (at left,
in profile). The picture was taken as part of a series of photographic views of
the farm made by Ward's brother Freed.
That same year, in October, Ada wrote a short postcard to her mother in law, who apparently was residing in the nearest town, Mill Run:
Ward has the coal out. You can get it any time. If you bring some of our buckwheat please bring our mail.... Come down when you can.
Ward was a custodian at the Mill Run School. He also is said to have helped install electrical wiring during construction of Fallingwater.
Circa 1940, Ward served as assistant secretary of the Hampton Church of God in Mill Run, a congregation his father had helped to found. Later, the Minerds were members of the Mill Run Evangelical United Brethren Church, where Ada served as Sunday School teacher for many years.
Circa
1945-1946, Ward was a foreman with Region Electric and Machine Co. in Mill Run.
When Ward’s parents celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in 1940, Ada and several cousins served a plate lunch for 61 guests.
During World War II, Ada made a financial donation to assist their daughter Ferne in her volunteer work as an editor of The Messenger (seen at right). The newspaper was church-oriented, "published in the interest of Christ and the Communities of Mill Run, Ohiopyle and Hickman Chapel." It was sent to local servicemen and women deployed around the globe, and designed to maintain their morale as well as that of of local residents. Its mission was to keep readers informed of the whereabouts and activities of their fighting husbands, brothers, sons and friends overseas. Copies of nine issues of this fascinating newspaper are in the Minerd-Miner-Minor Archives (October 1944, November 1944, January 1945, June 1945, October 1945, December 1945, January 1946, February 1946 and March 1946).
Son
Delbert (seen here in uniform) served in action with the 305th Infantry
of the 77th Division of the Army during World War II. Stationed in the
Philippines, Delbert was an admirer of famed war correspondent Ernie Pyle, whose
stories about common soldiers on the front lines were seen in newspapers coast
to coast -- before Pyle was felled by a Japanese bullet in 1945. As reported in The
Messenger, "the 77th Division ... was with Ernie Pyle when he fell.
Delbert said they lost a great friend when Pyle was killed, [and] that he had
done many things for them." In a letter to his grandmother Minerd, Delbert
also penned these words:
I
know you have been praying for all of us who [are] over here doing our little
bit to win this war. I don't want you to quit for one minute because it looks
like it is about over, but just keep right on. I'm sure that is the reason we
are making such progress.
In January 1967, Ward and Ada marked their 50th wedding anniversary. They celebrated with an afternoon dinner in the dining room of their church. Said the Connellsville Daily Courier, "The buffet-style dinner was served [to] approximately fifty relatives and guests, including a number of out-of-town persons… The celebrants were recipients of many gifts and flowers."
Ada
died on Nov. 7, 1971. She was age 76.
Ward outlived her by on a few months, and passed away on July 2, 1972, at age 77. They are buried together at the Indian Creek Baptist Church Cemetery in Mill Run.
Ward and all five of their children are mentioned in the 1970 book, A History of Mill Run, a landmark history of their community.
Son in law and daughter Graydon and Ferne Work were the longtime owners of the "Working Acres Farms" in Mill Run, a "'Dairy of Distinction" with a prominent sign in Mill Run. Said the Uniontown Herald-Standard, Graydon "was a former Committeeman of the Fayette County ASCA office, former board member of the Fayette County F.H.A., and a member of Mill Run Grange 1109..." He was also "a charter member of the Springfield Township Volunteer Hose Company." Ferne served as a clerk of the Indian Creek Baptist Church and taught Sunday School there for 40 years. Ferne and Graydon are listed in the 1975 book, Brooks Family History.
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Working Acres Dairy Farm sign along Route 381 near Mill Run |
Seen
at left, grandson
Kenneth Tilghman Minerd serves on the Regional
Trail Corporation (reappointed in 2005) and the Zoning Hearing Board of the City of Uniontown,
PA (2001). He is a senior commercial lines analyst with the Barnett Inc.
insurance agency in Pittsburgh. Ken and his son run a golf-equipment website, MinerdGolf.com,
a leading information resource about golf tournaments, products, services and
member benefits. In 2003, Ken graciously chaired our "Jacob Minerd
Weekend Proclamation Committee."
Grandson B. Scott Minerd is CEO and chief investment officer of Guggenheim Partners Asset Management. In April 2006, he was a guest speaker at the Milken Institute's Global Conference on "Expanding Opportunities in the Global Marketplace." Previously, he was chairman of Hedgefund.net. He also has been a managing director for Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse, where he oversaw fixed-income credit trading in the U.S., Europe and Asia, and has made contributions to the development of derivative securities in the global capital markets.
Grandson
Dean Minerd is an actor, director, producer, author and entrepreneur
based in Hollywood. Early in his career, he appeared in such
films as Demolition Man (with Sylvester Stallone, Wesley Snipes and
Sandra Bullock) and The Arrival. He once was
a contestant on Dick Clark's hit TV show, $25,000 Pyramid, and helped
publicize the smash TV show, X-Files, when it made its cable premier on
the FX Network.
Currently, Dean is a partner in a TV production company, Evolution
Film & Tape, where he is executive producer for shows the company
creates and produces. His clients have included ABC,
Comedy Central, FX, Lifetime, HBO,
Paramount Television and TLC
(The Learning Channel) in addition to Norman Lear's Declaration of
Independence Road Trip, the Thomas
Jefferson Foundation and the Academy of
Television Arts and Science. He has created, developed and managed the
productions of Clean
Sweep for TLC, The
Mansion and House
Rules for TBS, King
of the Jungle II for Animal Planet and Boy
Meets Boy for Bravo, among others. In late 2007, he was named executive
producer for "Battle of the Bods" on the Fox Reality Channel. His work puts him in regular contact
with such superstars as Matt Damon, Cher, Chris Rock, Jennifer Lopez, Reese
Witherspoon and John Travolta. Dean and co-author Christine Ecklund published a
book in 2004, entitled Fixed
Mix Seeks Same - The First Book of Dog Personal Ads.
Granddaughter Mary Ellen Hoover is a librarian at Rockwood (PA) High School and has coached junior high athletics for many years. Her husband Harry was a member of the Rockwood school board in the mid-1980s.
Grandson in law Roger W. Miller pitched for the Milwaukee Brewers in the 1974. He passed away in 1993. His wife, Joy Cunningham Miller, is employed at Fallingwater -- the world famous house designed over a waterfall by Frank Lloyd Wright -- and was the guest speaker at our 2004 National Minerd-Miner-Minor Reunion.
Great-grandson John Warrick is a science teacher at Connellsville Junior High East.
Other grandchildren have been very active in the nursing, coaching, community and church activities in Western Pennsylvania.
Copyright © 2002-2008 Mark A. Miner