Zachary James Ward

September 7, 2023

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Zachary James Ward, 39, of Whitestown, Ind., passed away September 7, 2023 in his home.  He was born on July 11, 1984 at Home Hospital in Lafayette to the late John D. Ward and Carol J. (Hankins) Brown.

Zach was a 2003 graduate of Western Boone High School.  He served in the United States Army from 2004 – 2009 as a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne.  He was deployed to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and also served one tour of duty in Iraq.  He attended the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, NC, Ivy Tech in Indianapolis, as well as Mechanical Skills Inc., a plumbing school in Indianapolis.  He previously worked for UPS, Wrights Hardware in Colfax, and Zionsville Community Schools.

He was a member of Colfax Christian Church.  He enjoyed board games and anything involving computers.  He loved dogs, especially shelties.

Zach struggled with PTSD for many years and the family wishes memorial donations to be made to The Wounded Warrior Project, P.O. Box 758516, Topeka, Kansas 66675-8516 or woundedwarriorproject.org in Zach’s honor.

Visitation and Services

In accordance with Zach’s wishes, no services will be held.  Private Family Burial will take place in Plainview Cemetery, Colfax.  Goodwin Funeral Home, 200 S. Main Street, Frankfort is honored to assist the Ward family. 

Survived by:

Surviving are his Grandmother: Delores Hankins of Frankfort, Mother: Carol (Michael) Brown of Michigantown, Brother: Chris Ward of Portsmith, England, Sister: Jillian (Mark) Dunbar of Colfax, and Nieces: Amara, Brinleigh, and Sawyer Dunbar of Colfax.  

Preceded by:

He was preceded in death by his father: John Ward, grandfather: James Hankins, grandparents: James and Ivy Ward, along with aunts: Connie Decker and Amy Timmons.

Condolences

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11 Condolences for “Zachary James Ward”

  1. Suzanne Hillard September 10, 2023 at 9:38 am

    Heartfelt condolences go out to your family at this difficult time. Sending love to you all.

    Reply
  2. Cindy Greeno Berger September 11, 2023 at 8:37 pm

    Our condolences Phil for your family’s loss. He sounds like a very brave and strong person. Thoughts and prayers.

    Cindy and Richard

    Reply
  3. Dorothy Benjamin September 12, 2023 at 12:47 am

    Dear Delores & Family, So sorry for your loss of one so young and a victim of PTSD after serving his country for us all. We will be donating to Wounded Warriors in his memory…
    Sympathy Thoughts & Prayers from all your Hickory Homemaker friends/family, love and prayers; God Bless

    Reply
  4. Rosalind Edens September 12, 2023 at 8:41 am

    So sorry to all of you. My heartfelt sympathy. Love and prayers coming your way

    Reply
  5. Brandon Taylor September 12, 2023 at 9:37 am

    I send my deepest condolences to the family. I have nothing but fond memories of Zach. When we were in high school, we were close friends. Zach and I had a never ending competition to see who could make the other one laugh more, and I have great memories of times where we got to laughing so hard we were in tears for what seemed like hours. I remember helping Zach one summer at vacation bible school for a church in Colfax and they let us ride skateboards down the center aisle between the pews, and the kids loved it. Zach seemed to really have a gift for making people laugh. After high school, I started attending Purdue and Zach would come visit just to keep company, and during that time he shared with me his ambitions to join the Military. His first choice was the Marines but ultimately he decided to go the Army route. Zach was my inspiration to join the Army because I was so impressed by his courage and dedication, I wanted to be more like him. we ended up joining the Army around the same time. We wrote letters to each other while we were both in Basic training, I still remember hearing about his adventures in jump school but we lost touch after we both got deployed. Zach was a special person, he had a positive impact in my life, and he will be missed. The news is circulating amongst some of his other high school friends and all of us have nothing but positive memories of our time with Zach.

    Reply
  6. Cindy Maxwell Eaton September 17, 2023 at 12:04 am

    Carol Jane…so very sorry for your loss. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family at Zach’s passing.

    Reply
  7. Donna Wiles September 19, 2023 at 12:12 pm

    My condolences to the family. My heart is heavy and I hardly know what to say. Zach was such a good person and made such a positive impact on my life. He was a part of my family for a time and we will miss him. I will remember the laughter and the joy that he brought to my life. He meant so much to me. He loved Biff, the sheltie he helped me choose. We played so many board games together. He helped me start up a board game group that was a pretty big thing for a while down here in NC. Lots of people enjoyed his ability to come into a room and light it up with laughter. I’m glad that I was someone that he could talk to for a time. If you want to share good memories of him, please let me know anytime.

    Reply
  8. Robert Tedder September 19, 2023 at 1:21 pm

    I remember meeting Zach at church. We would play halo and halo 2 every Friday night for years. I’ll miss ya man, but I know I’ll see you again.

    Reply
  9. Chase MacDonald September 19, 2023 at 9:20 pm

    My condolences to the family. I was one of his online buddies. He called me Ghalihad. We met nearly 15 years ago and played games together for countless hours. We always remained in touch through the years. I considered Zach a very close friend who I confided in. He was like an older brother. He was always eager to make the team laugh. He was truly a one of a kind person. Always giving and never selfish. I feel the absence of his company and am saddened I won’t hear his voice again. I cherish the moments we had together. I’ll miss you, Dood.

    Reply
  10. Anjuli Kamins September 23, 2023 at 11:01 pm

    My deepest sympathy to all who knew Zach. He was always so kind and willing to re-explain something I didn’t understand during a board game session. I will always think of his sweet smile as we walked into the home he shared with Donna and the cheer of greeting we’d receive. I’m grateful for the short time I knew him and was able to learn from him.

    Reply
  11. Matt Buedel November 5, 2023 at 12:47 am

    Carol I met with you and visited with you and I still couldn’t express how truly sorry I am for the loss of your son, my brother Zack. I truly miss him every single day It has been almost 3 months and I still can’t believe My brother that I grew up with is gone. Thank you for the time that you let me spend with him and the time that I got to spend with you and your family. If you need anything at all, don’t ever hesitate to contact me.
    Semper Fi

    Reply

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