Mabel Elizabeth Schmidt Ward

Oswego – Funeral services for Mabel Elizabeth Schmidt Ward, 90, Ponca City, Okla., will be at 1:30 p.m. Monday at Oswego United Methodist Church.Mrs. Ward died Wednesday, March 14, 2007, at Westminster Retirement Village in Ponca City.She was born Sept. 9, 1916, in Labette County near Oswego, the daughter of Clarence and Margaret Berentz Schmidt. She attended the Oak Grove School District 24 in rural Oswego, Labette County Community High School in Altamont and graduated in 1935 from Oswego High School. She lived in the Oswego and McCune areas before moving in 1945 to Lawrence. She also lived in Raytown, Mo., Shell Knob, Mo., and Ponca City, Okla.Mrs. Ward worked for Sears-Roebuck in telephone sales and transferred to Sears in Raytown, Mo. She was a member of Methodist Episcopal Church in Oswego and was active with Central Community United Methodist Church and United Church Women in Shell Knob. She was a member of the Tri-Lakes Telephone Pioneers and a volunteer for Lives Under Construction Boys Ranch. She was a member of the Rebecca Lodge in Lawrence.She married Cecil H. Ward on Oct. 5, 1935. He preceded her in death.Survivors include a son, Oren Ward, Shell Knobb, Mo.; two daughters, Frances Long, Ponca City, Okla., and Sharon Newell, Lawrence; three sisters, Ruth Sutton, Eleanor Monroe and Cora Irene “Corrine” Graue, Oswego; seven grandchildren; three stepgrandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren. The family suggests memorials to Central Community United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 268, Shell Knob, MO 65747.Grace Memorial Chapel in Ponca City is in charge of arrangements.