Gretchen Joan Ward

Gretchen Ward died peacefully at home with family at her side June 2, 2022. The great-granddaughter of pioneers and oldest of four children, she was born in Washougal, Wash., on March 4, 1935, to Irma and Herman Munch. She spent a wonderful childhood exploring the Pacific Northwest, learning to love and respect its wild beauty.

Gretchen’s two years of French in high school engendered in her an interest in languages and a desire for European travel. Her first of 10 trips to Europe was a bicycling adventure with a college friend following graduation from Washington State University in 1957. With World War II a recent memory, many Europeans were surprised and delighted at two young American women biking through their villages.

After a year teaching French and Spanish at Bothell High School in Washington, she met and married Robert Ward, with whom she shared a passion for Beethoven and social justice. Bob’s career took them and their four children to Matoaca, Va., where he taught history and world religions at John Tylor Community College for 21 years. Gretchen continued her foreign language studies, among them summers in Klagenfurt, Austria, and Tubingen, Germany. She taught French and German at Prince George High School in Virginia. She and Bob both became great advocates and activists for the environment and the disadvantaged. Bob was a prolific organic gardener, and Gretchen excellent at canning, so their family always had good food as well as good conversation when they gathered at the dinner table.

Eager to return to their native West, Gretchen and Bob retired to Sandpoint, Idaho, in 1993. Gretchen became involved with Friends of the Library and the Bonner County Human Rights Task Force, while Bob became a Master Gardener. Bob Ward died in a canoeing accident in April 1999, and Gretchen moved from the country to a house in town.

Always the adventurer, she enjoyed further travel in Europe, often with old friends from college. In 2002 she became a member of the board of the newly formed Foundation for Human Rights Action and Advocacy (FHRAA) and you may have seen her faithfully volunteering every Saturday at Sanctuary Seconds Thrift Store, to benefit cats. In her later years, she continued to enjoy good conversation, wine, Scrabble, and Jeopardy. Her steadfastness in her beliefs and her articulate, intelligent and gracious presence will be missed here in Sandpoint.

Gretchen is survived by her children, Alex Ward of Petersburg, Va.; Celia Ward of Sandpoint, and Maggie Gervey of Portland, Ore.; and grandson Aidan McGervey of Portland, Ore. Surviving also are her sister, Carolyn Dixon of Mount Vernon, Wash.; and her brother, Louis Munch of Port Townsend, Wash.

Gretchen requested no memorial. If you want to honor Gretchen’s life, donate to Bonner County Human Rights Task Force, or FHRAA, and raise a glass of cheap chardonnay to a more just and peaceful world, to a healthier planet, to an end of all wars and to good manners and proper grammar. Then get to work to make it happen.

Family and friends are invited to sign Gretchen’s online guest book at www.coffeltfuneral.com.

Arrangements are under the care of Coffelt Funeral Service.