It is with great sadness that Winderweedle, Haines Ward & Woodman, PA announces that our friend, colleague, and long-time partner Harold A. Ward, III passed away on March 30, 2026, at the age of 92.
One of the most widely known and best-respected figures in the City of Winter Park, his home town, Mr. Ward has been called “the city’s iconic father figure.” In fact, Mr. Ward’s father and grandfather were prominent Winter Park residents as well. Mr. Ward began his legal practice at our firm in 1960 after law school at the University of Chicago and completing a clerkship with Justice Hugo Black of the United States Supreme Court, followed by service from 1956 through 1959 as an attorney member of the United States Air Force, assigned to the Office of the General Counsel, Secretary of the Air Force.
Mr. Ward had many individual, business, and not-for-profit clients during his many years of practice, notably including the Charles Hosmer Morse Foundation, which owns The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art, and the Elizabeth Morse Genius Foundation, which, among other charitable activities, helps to support the museum. For many years, Mr. Ward was the chair of these historically important foundations, which were begun by Rollins College President Hugh F. McKean and his wife, Jeannette Genius McKean. Morse bought half the property in the city from the failing Winter Park Company in 1904 and hired Mr. Ward’s grandfather to run what was then a new entity, the Winter Park Land Company.
As Mr. Ward’s legal career progressed, he eventually came to focus on estate planning and legions of area residents benefited from his talents and expertise in this area. Mr. Ward was recognized as a preeminent estate planning attorney not only by the local community, but regionally and even nationally. Among other honors, he was a long-time Fellow of The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, a highly selective national organization.
Throughout his life, Mr. Ward contributed his time and talents to many worthy local causes. He has served for over four decades (and is a four-time chair) on the Rollins College Board of Trustees, and was previously a trustee and attorney of record for Winter Park Memorial Hospital (now AdventHealth Winter Park). He became the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce’s only two-term president in 1971 and 1972 as well as its Citizen of the Year in 1999. Rollins presented him with an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in 1986 and its Decoration of Honor in 1998. Mr. Ward was an honoree at the Winter Park Historical Association’s Peacock Ball. His service also included being Chair of the Board of Directors of the United Church of Christ Homeland Ministries and Vice Chair of the Pension Boards of the United Church of Christ as well as Moderator of the First Congregational Church of Winter Park and the Florida Conference of the United Church of Christ. This year, Mr. Ward was honored by the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce with its Lifetime Achievement Award.
Mr. Ward and his late wife Mary Lewis “Libby” Ward, who passed away in 2024, were married for over 66 years, and, when they were able, traveled the world, frequently with friends from Winter Park. Mr. Ward is survived by their children Cathy McNamara, Mary Christian, and Tom Ward, seven grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.