Keith Thomas Ward, born on August 24, 1936, in Cicero, Illinois, peacefully passed away on January 23, 2025 in the presence of family and loved ones.
He was preceded in death by his grandson, Damon Ward, and survived by his wife, Rosalie Ward; sons, Michael (Starr) Ward and Patrick (Leigh) Ward; sister, Kristina Romaine; grandchildren, Timothy, Aedan, Annika, and Elsa; and nephew, Gary Romaine.
Keith grew up in Villa Park, Illinois and graduated from York High School in 1954. He married Rosalie in 1964 and they lived in Elmhurst ever since, remaining faithful members of Visitation Catholic Church. He proudly served in the U.S. Army for six years, stationed in Germany and working as a tank communications officer.
Keith was a natural-born engineer, able to fix and build just about anything, and worked for 45 years at Tree Towns Reprographics in Elmhurst. He was a master model builder, winning many national contests, and built most of the model train layout in the DuPage County Historical Museum. He even built his own car from scratch in the 1960s.
He will be remembered for his willingness to help anyone fix anything, his dry sense of humor, and his obsession with making anything with wheels run better and faster.
A visitation will be held on Friday, January 31, 2025 from 4 p.m. – 8 p.m. at Elmhurst Community Funeral Home – THE AHLGRIM CHAPEL, 567 S. Spring Road, Elmhurst, IL 60126. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Saturday, February 1, 2025 beginning at 10 a.m. at Visitation Catholic Church, 779 S. York Street, Elmhurst, IL 60126. Interment Queen of Heaven Catholic Cemetery in Hillside, IL.
In lieu of flowers, please donate to the DuPage Society of Model Engineers, 102 E. Wesley Street, Wheaton, IL 60187, (630) 810-4941, and the Alzheimer’s Foundation, www.alzfdn.org.
For info, (630) 834-3515 or www.ElmhurstFH.com.