Luke Robert Ward, 36, passed away suddenly at his home in Barnhartvale on Feb 17, 2016.
Luke was born on October 8th, 1979 in Kamloops BC on the second anniversary of his parents. He was one of their greatest gifts.
He is survived by his parents Joe and Elaine (Gowans) Ward, his brother Mat (Erin) Ward and his sister Diana (Alex) Fraser. Luke adored his nephews, Tyler, Mason, Lee and Eric and niece Heidi. Luke spent the last year of his life sharing his hopes and dreams with the love of his life, Kyra Blackburn, and her children Corey and Claireese. He also leaves his maternal grama, Margaret Gowans, numerous Aunts and Uncles, cousins and friends.
Luke was predeceased by his Uncle John Gowans (1983), his grandfather Jack Gowans (1992), and his grandmother Sarah Ward (2011).
Luke was a fun loving, hardworking, responsible young man. Luke was a happy and cheerful little boy. He played soccer, hockey, golf and was an eleven-year member of 4-H. In his last year of 4-H he received the citizenship award from his peers. After graduating high school with honors, Luke worked as a farm hand on his Uncle Bob's ranch, a parts person at Acklands Grainger and a diamond driller for Conners drilling.
He chose to return to university to achieve his Retail Meat Processing Certificate. While completing this course, he was awarded the UCC School of Tourism Student of the Year Award. He then worked for a year at this before beginning his career with Domtar in 2007. He was a Water Treatment Operator and Recaust Field Operator in the steam plant and was working on his 4th year Power Engineering degree. He was a member of the Emergency Response Team as well. He loved his Domtar family.
Luke’s many talents made him capable of doing anything. Luke and Mat were in the process of building their third spec house together. Luke was using carpentry skills that he had picked up from his dad and brother. He helped his parents on their farm with every aspect and was even working on building his own little herd of cows. He was an avid outdoors man.
He enjoyed hunting, fishing, quading, dirt biking, snowmobiling, snowshoeing, and hiking by himself or with others. He had a keen mind for mechanics and could fix most anything. He also enjoyed spending time with his nephews and niece. Luke had a lot of friends and a lot of his friends, considered him their “best friend”. He was always there to help anyone who needed it. He will be forever missed.
