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About Ward Cemetery

The precise details surrounding the establishment of Ward Cemetery are lost to time, but at some point during the very early years of the community's existence, a plot of land was set aside to serve as a cemetery.

 

Burial Records

The original burial records were lost in a fire; however, the cemetery was mapped and new records were created from information taken from the headstones and markers. Burials in Ward Cemetery can be located if the grave has a readable marker.

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Information for Researchers

Many family tree researchers assume that a death certificate that states the burial place as Ward, WV, indicates a burial in Ward Cemetery. However, Mount Lewis Cemetery is located within walking distance of Ward Cemetery. 

Care of Ward Cemetery is coordinated by and overseen by the Ward Cemetery Advisory Committee, Inc.

Ward Cemetery Advisory Committee, Inc. is an IRS registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation and is licensed to conduct business in the state of West Virginia. The committee was established to assist with the care of Ward Cemetery and to develop and establish cemetery POLICY and procedures and establish fees for services.

 

No committee member receives compensation of any kind.  All donations/fundraising money/cemetery fees collected are used to finance the care, beautification, and preservation of Ward Cemetery. These funds are collected and managed by the Ward Cemetery Advisory Committee and are used to pay for items such as, but not limited to, weed eaters, weed eater string, purchase/replacement of mowing equipment, equipment repair/maintenance, gasoline, maintenance tools, tree and brush removal, fence repair, hiring a grass cutting crew, and major projects/repairs such as flood damage repair.

If you have questions or need information about the Ward Cemetery Advisory Committee, or wish to become a member, please email us at info@wardcemetery.com or use our CONTACT FORM.

LOCATION ADDRESS

Kanawha County EMS Assigned Address: 

2041 Kelley's Creek Rd, Cedar Grove, WV

GPS Coordinates: 38.233181, -81.417323

The mailing address for this cemetery was once Ward, WV. 

The Ward post office closed in 1969.

MAILING ADDRESS

Ward Cemetery

c/o Sherry Smith

3012 Dorsey Drive

Belle, WV 25015

FOR DONATIONS, PLEASE MAKE CHECKS PAYABLE TO

WARD CEMETERY

AND MAIL TO SHERRY SMITH AT 

THE ABOVE MAILING ADDRESS

YOU CAN ALSO DONATE ONLINE WITH PAYPAL

paypal.me/wardcemetery

 

 

CLICK HERE FOR CEMETERY MAP

CEMETERY INFO/GENERAL INFO

info@wardcemetery.com

or phone Committee member Sherry Smith at

(304) 595-2919

M-F 9am-5pm

for cemetery information and donation information.

If there is no answer, please leave a message and we will return your call as soon as possible.

BURIAL LOCATIONS/PLOT LOOKUPS

info@wardcemetery.com

or phone Committee member Jan Richardson at

(304) 981-1116

for plot lookups and help locating a grave.

If there is no answer, please leave a detailed message and provide the name of the deceased so that we may check our records and have the information ready for you when we return your call.

YOU MAY ALSO USE THE CONTACT FORM ON THIS WEBSITE.

WELCOME TO WARD CEMETERY

Ward Cemetery is located near the former coal miningtown of Ward, West Virginia. The cemetery is located on Kelly's Creek Road in an unincorporated area of eastern Kanawha County approximately one mile northeast of the of the town limits of Cedar Grove, West Virginia. The cemetery​ is around ten acres in size and is situated on a hillside. Ward Cemetery is a very old community cemetery and the terrain in some areas of the cemetery can be very rugged and steep. Ward Cemetery is not a perpetual care cemetery, is not operated for profit, and there are no deeded plots. Ward Cemetery is still an active burial ground and the final resting place of many​ former Kelley's Creek Collieries/Valley Camp Coal Company employees, their families, and their descendants.  

Visitor Information

Ward Cemetery visiting hours are daily from dawn until dusk. Ward Cemetery has no paid staff and NO OFFICE on site. The smaller​ cemetery gates are always unlocked for visitors. However, due to past problems with theft, vandalism, and damage caused​ by off-road vehicles, the larger double gates will remain locked for the protection of the cemetery. 

 

If you need to locate a grave or need additional information or assistance, please contact us BEFORE your visit. Ward Cemetery is cared for by volunteers who may not be immediately available to assist you at the time of your visit.  There is no office on the cemetery grounds.  You may email info@wardcemetery.com or phone (304) 981-1116 M-F 9am-5pm for burial location information BEFORE your visit to the cemetery.  Please leave a detailed message and we will call you back as soon as possible.

 

If you need access through the locked drive-in gates, please contact us IN ADVANCE OF YOUR VISIT to make arrangements for one of our volunteers to meet you to unlock the gates. You may email us at info@wardcemetery.com  or phone (304) 595-2919 M-F 9am-5pm or use our CONTACT FORM.  Only Advisory Committee members and maintenance personnel will be issued a key.  Please see our POLICY page for more information regarding cemetery policy.

 

PLEASE NOTE: The cemetery has no trash pickup, so please take any old flowers and trash with you when leaving the cemetery. Burning trash is not legal and has not been allowed for a long time and the trash bin has been removed. Please do not throw garbage on top or beside of our storage bin. It is not a trash bin.

Caretaker and Committee Information

Loving care for Ward Cemetery is coordinated and overseen by the Ward Cemetery Advisory Committee. Mowing is dependent upon securing enough workers and the availability of funds to pay those workers.  Please contact us  if interested in grass cutting or in volunteering or donating towards the care of Ward Cemetery.

After many years of loving care and dedication by caretakers such as Charles and Patsy Tucker and Lee Roy and Helen Smith and others, Ward Cemetery still continues to be maintained thanks to the work of Sherry Smith assisted by the members of the Ward Cemetery Advisory Committee. 

If you have questions or need information about the Ward Cemetery Advisory Committee, or wish to become a member, please email us at info@wardcemetery.com or use our CONTACT FORM.

The Ward Cemetery Advisory Committee, Inc., is NOT connected in any way to the former Ward Funeral Fund and Accident Association, Inc., which terminated September 18, 2000.  

 

If you are unhappy about the condition of the cemetery or think the length of the grass is unacceptable, you are invited and encouraged to attend the Advisory Committee meetings, become a volunteer and donate your time to help improve conditions.  If you cannot attend the meetings or physically help with the work, donations are always appreciated, as the cemetery grounds cannot be maintained without sufficient funds.

 

Ward Cemetery is an old community cemetery. It is NOT a perpetual care cemetery and there are no deeded plots. The cemetery is very old and there is no private owner on record for Ward Cemetery, so there is no one who can be held responsible for the care of the cemetery.  Only so much can be accomplished with limited funds and limited volunteers. If the current volunteers abandon their work due to lack of funds, lack of support, unwarranted criticism, or uncooperative people, the cemetery will become completely overgrown, as there is no one else to care for it. The care of the cemetery will revert back to each family being responsible for taking care of their own family graves as it was in times past.

The Ward Cemetery Advisory Committee, Inc. is a federal 501(c)(3) tax exempt non-profit organization with public charity status. The Ward Cemetery Advisory Committee satisfies the annual IRS reporting requirement by electronically submitting the IRS Form 990-N e-postcard. The Ward Cemetery Advisory Committee is licensed as a non-profit organization and is authorized to conduct business in the state of West Virginia. The committee's financial records are open for public review upon request and by appointment.

                                                          YOU MAY USE THE CONTACT FORM FOR ANY INQUIRY

Ward Cemetery is NOT connected in any way to the website "Find A Grave" or that website's owner, Ancestry.com. The Ward Cemetery burial information found on the website "Find A Grave" is NOT an official listing of burials in Ward Cemetery and does not accurately reflect the burial records of Ward Cemetery. The information on "Find A Grave" is user-submitted by many different contributors and may not be accurate. 

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