In Memory of
Sandra M. Ward
August 22, 2022
Obituary
Sandra
M. Ward, age 80, of Wayne, passed away on Monday,
August 22, 2022.
Sandra was born in New York City and raised in Harlem,
NY before moving to the Inwood section of Manhattan. She
was the daughter of the late Joseph and Stella (Rutkowski)
Irizarry.
After high school graduation, Sandra worked various jobs
before settling into a career with the Port Authority of
New York and New Jersey. Each day she reported to her
office in the former World Trade Center and, over the
span of her twenty-five-year career from 1975 to 2000
when she retired, Sandra rose to the rank of Marketing
Manager. While working at the Port Authority, she
attended college in the evening to earn her bachelor’s
degree. One career highlight was her involvement with
the promotion and establishment of the EZ-Pass cashless
tolling system for the states of New York and New
Jersey. Sandra truly loved her work and she enjoyed the
respect of her coworkers.
One night in November of 1969, just before the
Thanksgiving holiday, Sandra was out at a bowling alley
on Academy Street in the Inwood section of Manhattan.
There she had the life-changing pleasure of meeting a
charming young man named Thomas Ward who happened to be
bowling on the lane right next to her. On that evening,
the team member with the highest score was awarded a
free turkey. As it turned out, both Sandra and Tom went
home with Turkeys that night! While bowling they engaged
in playful banter and before the night was over, Tom
asked Sandra out for a date. Between the two encounters,
a beautiful love for each other sparked. They eventually
eloped to Mexico and married on August 19, 1970. After a
two-week honeymoon, they drove home to New York in Tom’s
1969 dark blue two door Ford Maverick. Sandra and Tom’s
first home together was an apartment in Fort Lee. In
1976 they moved to Lincoln Park and in 1986 they moved
to Wayne where they’ve remained to the present.
One of Sandra’s favorite pastimes was traveling. After
retirement she enjoyed trips to Lithuania, Spain and
Puerto Rico with her girlfriends. When Tom retired two
years later in 2002, they set out to see the world with
trips together to Turkey, Hungary, Egypt, Peru, Costa
Rica, England, and Ireland, and lots and lots of cruises
including one on the Black Sea and the most recent
cruise this past March to Jamacia, St. Thomas and Puerto
Rico. Sandra’s favorite drinks on the cruises included
chocolate and pumpkin martinis. Sandra loved exercise
too. She had a regular habit of attending Zumba exercise
classes with her friends. Afterwards they’d all go to
lunch and laugh about how they were putting all those
calories back on. Sandra’s favorite lunch food was
anything Mexican.
Above all else, Sandra’s greatest love was for her
family. Nothing made her happier than when they were all
together. She adored her grandsons Terrence and Thomas
and, together with Tom, her daughter Tammy and
son-in-law Thomas, and her grandsons, they enjoyed a
cruise to Bermuda and partied till the lights came on.
Sandra’s faith was important to her and she attended Our
Lady of the Valley R.C. Church in Wayne. She had a real
soft spot for children, especially those facing
life-threatening illness, and was therefore a faithful
contributor to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Sandra was the beloved wife of Thomas, blessed in a
loving, devoted marriage for 52 years. She was the
loving mother of Tammy Carey of Mahopac, NY and her late
husband Thomas Carey (2019); adoring grandmother of
Terrence Carey and Thomas Carey, Jr.; much-loved sister
of the late Joyce Carey and her late husband Pat;
dearest aunt of Pat Carey and wife Diane of Yonkers, NY,
and Jennifer Tracey and husband Shawn of Omaha,
Nebraska; and dear great-aunt of Patrick, Colleen, and
Caitlin Carey.
Friends may visit with the family on Thursday, August
25, 2022 from 4-8 PM at the Vander May Wayne Colonial
Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne.
Funeral Services will be held at 9:30 AM on Friday,
August 26, 2022 from the funeral home, then to Our Lady
of the Valley R.C. Church, 630 Valley Road, Wayne where
at 10:30 AM a Funeral Mass will be offered. After the
Mass, Sandra will be laid to rest at Holy Cross Cemetery
in Mt. Carmel, Pennsylvania.
Those planning an expression of sympathy in Sandra’s
name are asked to consider:
St. Jude Children’s Research
Hospital
Memorial Processing
501 St. Jude Place
Memphis, TN 38105-9959
Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral
Home, Inc.
567 Ratzer Rd, Wayne, NJ 07470
(973) 696-2900
