Laurier community mourns alumnus Ward Kaiser (BA ’45)

The Wilfrid Laurier University community mourns the passing of Ward Louis Kaiser (BA ’45), a Waterloo Luther College alumnus who made a significant social impact during decades of service.

Ward entered Waterloo Lutheran College in 1942 after some years working in the insurance industry in Kitchener, where he was born and raised. He was ordained in the Evangelical United Brethren Church (now the United Methodist and United Church of Canada), pastoring in Saskatchewan, Kitchener, Milverton and Stratford. In the late 1950s, Ward started work with Friendship Press, the publishing arm of the National Council of Churches in New York, later serving as executive director and publisher. Ward was deeply involved in the Christian ecumenical movement, volunteered with the Scouts, and was an avid traveler.

In an article he wrote for Campus magazine, Ward, who was honoured as Alumnus of the Year in 1967, gave Laurier credit for his full, varied and deeply meaningful career. He wrote, “my experiences at Waterloo [Lutheran] College were pivotal in my life and career. Everything that followed my time there can be understood from that perspective.”

“We remember him so fondly,” says Deanne Piticco, director, Alumni and Community Engagement. “He attended our Founders' Club Reunions, and he was always interested in connecting to learn more about Laurier and what was new.

“Every year when the Purple and Gold Dinner takes place I think about Ward and the conversations we shared during those events. I was fascinated by his Laurier experiences and the meaningful life he lived in the decades that followed his time on campus.”

Read Ward Kaiser’s obituary.