Oneonta, New York -  On the evening of March 22nd, 2026, Braden Dean Ward closed his eyes for the last time — calmly, peacefully, and surrounded by the family he loved more than anything on this earth. He was 73 years old.

Born on July 15th, 1952, in Deposit, New York, Brad was the son of Claire and Charles "Chuck" Ward, and brother to Mark, Mary Jane, and Sue. The Ward family would eventually settle in Norwich, New York, where a young Brad first discovered the things that would define his life: the outdoors, the arts, competition, community — and the quiet, stubborn belief that you can do anything with this life.

Brad was a natural athlete — a decorated varsity football player and track star at Norwich High School, class of 1972 — but it wasn't the trophies that made him extraordinary. It was the way he carried himself. The discipline. The joy. The refusal to do anything halfway. He brought that same fire to Norwich University, where he began what would become a forty-year career in medicine.

In the late 1970s, Brad returned to Oneonta and joined the surgical staff at A.O. Fox Memorial Hospital, where he became a cornerstone of the operating room. For four decades, he served his colleagues and his patients with a precision, dedication, and humility that earned him the deepest respect of everyone who worked alongside him. His career included Albany Medical Center, St Peters Hospital, UHS, TYCO, ETHICON, US Surgical and Baxter. He developed professional trade organizations. He built professional licensing programs at the state and federal level. He invented surgical instruments that remain in use today — tools that continue to save lives even now, even in his absence. That was Brad. Always building something.

But if you asked him what he was most proud of, he wouldn't have mentioned a single one of those things.

He would have told you about Kathy.

In 1976, a young surgical tech met a young nurse in the hallways of Fox Hospital. Her name was Kathy Ploutz, and by September of 1978, she was Kathy Ward. Together, Brad and Kathy built a life that was never about grandeur — it was about kindness. It was about showing up with warmth. It was about hope, even when hope was hard. They raised two sons, and they raised them right.

Brad was not the kind of father who stood on the sidelines. He was the one leaning over the fence, clapping the loudest, believing the hardest. He was a super fan — not just of what his boys accomplished, but of who they were becoming. He had a way of making you feel like the most important person in the room, and if you were his son, you carried that feeling with you every single day of your life. That is a rare and irreplaceable gift, and it is the one his family holds closest now.

He was a man of faith. Each week, he gathered with his men's Bible group — not out of obligation, but out of genuine devotion to his brothers and his relationship with God.

Brad loved his neighbors the way most people love family. He never met a stranger he couldn't befriend, never passed up an opportunity to lend a hand, and never once walked by a cat or a dog without stopping to say hello. He was an avid fly fisherman and a lifelong outdoorsman who found God in the rivers and the woods and the long light of an upstate evening. The natural world was his cathedral, and he worshipped there often.

Braden is survived by his sons Matthew Ward and family, and Aaron Ward and Jessica Ward; his grandchildren Charli, Eliana, and Wyatt; his siblings Mark, Mary Jane, and Sue; and a wide and enduring circle of friends, neighbors, colleagues, and extended family who are better for having known him.

What remains is not grief alone — What remains is his laughter, which could fill a room. His smile, which could steady a soul. His perseverance, which taught everyone around him that you keep going. His drive, which proved that a life of service is a life well spent. And his hope — boundless, stubborn, radiant hope — which he handed to all of us like a lantern and said, keep walking.

We will, Dad. We will. And we love you….

A celebration will be held in honor of Braden and Kathy Ward-Summer 2026… Details TBD…

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you make a donation to the Susquehanna SPCA https://www.sqspca.org/ways-to-give/and then go do something Brad would have done: check on your neighbor, cast a line into the river, hold someone you love a little tighter, and never stop believing that the best is yet to come.

Arrangements are entrusted with Lewis, Hurley & Pietrobono Funeral Home, 51 Dietz St., Oneonta; www.lhpfuneralhome.com