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Leonard Roy Ward

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Leonard Roy Ward

Birth
Chehalis, Lewis County, Washington, USA
Death
15 Feb 1985 (aged 81)
Dufur, Wasco County, Oregon, USA
Burial
The Dalles, Wasco County, Oregon, USA Add to Map
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Leonard Ward was the son of Dennis Bowman Ward and Mary Emma Vale. He was posthumously inducted into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame 2009 as the winner of the All-Around Cowboy award. He has been described as one of the best all-round hands in the first half of the 20th century, becoming the first cowboy to achieve a Triple Crown by winning three Gold Buckles in 1934 when he won the Saddle Bronc Riding, Bareback Riding and All-round World Championship. Sadly, he broke his leg at the 1937 California Rodeo in Salinas and never returned to the sport.

In 1941 at the age of 38 he served as a civilian construction worker in WWII first on Midway Island, then Wake Island where he was captured by the Japanese on 23 Dec 1941, and held for 45 months doing forced labor. After his release Leonard lived out his life working on his dude ranch in Talent, Oregon where John F. Kennedy stayed the 1960 Presidential Campaign.

Leonard married four times that are known of: 1925 to Nell Smith (who later married Leonard's younger brother, Vern and by whom he had a son, Leonard Jean Ward); 1927 to Mary Hittson Holmes; 1964 to Lila Monk Walker; and 1978 to Ella Taylor.
Leonard Ward was the son of Dennis Bowman Ward and Mary Emma Vale. He was posthumously inducted into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame 2009 as the winner of the All-Around Cowboy award. He has been described as one of the best all-round hands in the first half of the 20th century, becoming the first cowboy to achieve a Triple Crown by winning three Gold Buckles in 1934 when he won the Saddle Bronc Riding, Bareback Riding and All-round World Championship. Sadly, he broke his leg at the 1937 California Rodeo in Salinas and never returned to the sport.

In 1941 at the age of 38 he served as a civilian construction worker in WWII first on Midway Island, then Wake Island where he was captured by the Japanese on 23 Dec 1941, and held for 45 months doing forced labor. After his release Leonard lived out his life working on his dude ranch in Talent, Oregon where John F. Kennedy stayed the 1960 Presidential Campaign.

Leonard married four times that are known of: 1925 to Nell Smith (who later married Leonard's younger brother, Vern and by whom he had a son, Leonard Jean Ward); 1927 to Mary Hittson Holmes; 1964 to Lila Monk Walker; and 1978 to Ella Taylor.

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