Austin Chester Ward

Friday, August 28, 1936

Austin Chester Ward

DEATH ENDS LONG WATCH AT CROSSING

Life's last flag dropped before Austin C. Ward Thursday night, only 4 days before he intended to take up his old job as flagman at the busy Santa Fe railroad crossing on Thirteenth Street.

For more than 10 years Ward watched the freight and passenger trains pass, always raising his warning flag to trusting motorists and pedestrians. Between trains Ward cultivated his neat flower garden at the flagman's shanty.

Two months ago he entered railroad hospital at Melvane, Kans., for treatment of a heart ailment. Last Friday he returned here to rest up and go to work again September 1. Thursday night, shortly after he retired, he was found dead in bed. Ward was 73 years old and lived at 138 East Park Place, Oklahoma City. He had no relatives here.

Saturday, August 29, 1936

Austin Chester Ward

Services for Austin C. Ward, 73 years old, for the last 10 years flagman for the Santa Fe railroad, will be held Monday morning at the Guardian Funeral Home. Exact hour will be determined after the arrival of relatives from Cleveland, Ohio.