Ursula Maria Ward

Ursula Maria Ward was born April 27, 1932 in Schleswig Holstein, OberSchlesien. She passed away peacefully at home after a short but valiant battle with cancer on the morning of July 4, 2011. She is survived by two sisters, Waltraud Stoepel, Brigitte Rauch (Wenzel); one brother, Jochen Klein (Helga); sister-in-law Annelore Klein all of Germany. She is survived by three children, Hannelore Schindlbeck (Manfred) of Bayerbach, Germany; Ursula Lyons (Robert) of Spanaway, Washington and Al Ward (Danette) of Tacoma, Washington. She is also survived by twelve grandchildren and two greatgrandchildren, Brandon James Hanson II and Thunder Jade FlyingCloud, which were the light of her life. She is preceded in death by her mother, Elfriede Klein; her father, Wilhelm Klein; her brother, Helmut Klein; and many dear friends. Ursula came to the United States in 1959 as a new bride. She managed to master the English language and made America her home. As a military wife she knew that moving every couple of years was par for the course but this was simply taken in stride by her as she made each move to a new location seem simple to her family. In her lifetime, Ursula worked as a bartender, food and cocktail waitress, chef and eventually ran her own baking business named “Ursula’s Creations”. She provided tortes, apfelstrudel, kaffeekuchen, kaesekuchen, and many other German baked goods. Her bakewares could be found at many of the local European coffee shops in the Pierce County area. Ursula, better known as “Uschi” by all her friends, retired as Head Cook Extraordinaire from Madigan NCO club in 1997 at the age of 65 years. Her amazing cooking and baking skills were well known throughout Madigan Army Medical Center which was proven by the long lines of customers waiting at lunchtime to taste her delicious cuisine. Her off work hours were spent enjoying WWF wrestling matches, playing bingo, going to the casino and checking out garage sales. She was always up for a great deal on an item. She loved having friends and family stop by her house in the afternoon for coffee and a tasty German cake. Her vacations were spent traveling to Reno or to her homeland Germany to visit with family. We will always remember celebrating Christmas Eve the German way at her house; a tradition we will continue in her honor for years to come. Mutti, wir werden Dich nie vergessen. Du bleibst immer und ewig in unserem Herzen. Please join us on July 31, 2011 @ 2pm for a Celebration of Life at King Oscar Restaurant & Lounge 8726 South Hosmer Street, Tacoma, WA. We will be meeting in the banquet room upstairs.