|
WINDY CITY TIMES
|
|
|
PASSAGES: Ward Mayberry
2007-03-21
|
|
This article shared 5008 times since Wed Mar 21, 2007
|
|
On Feb. 15, Ward Mayberry died after two months at Seasons Hospice House at Lincoln Park Hospital in Chicago, with a close friend by his side. He was 41.
Ward grew up in Pekin, Illinois, where he first showed his unique knack for performance in a variety of outlets, first as an gymnast and later in his high-school show chorus, The Notables. He graduated Illinois State University with a bachelor of science degree in 1989, and moved to Chicago soon thereafter. A supremely talented clothing designer and draftsman of exacting aesthetic standards, Ward initially took a job doing alterations at Ultimate Bride and later began his own dress-design business, specializing in wedding splendor. He was proud to create couture bridal gowns for his nieces Andrea and Nicole, and his final project was an elaborate Halloween costume for his great-niece Gigi.
In addition to delighting brides, he fashioned a steady stream of eye-popping garments with a radical-faerie flair for himself and his friends. For example, he once transformed a really ugly sequined bridesmaid's gown into a rockin' roller-derby outfit for Gay Skate night at the ( now-demolished ) Rainbo rink. Many more stories about Ward could be told, but some aren't precisely suitable for publication; even those that are would fall woefully short of having actually been there and seeing him in action.
An active contributor to Chicago culture, Mayberry loved attending dance, theater or rock shows, or was in the bars afterward—especially in the '90s and early '00s, before his long battle with HIV took its toll.
Ward enjoyed a close relationship with many family members, especially his mother, Vernice Funk, and his beloved nieces and nephews. During his final months, he was surrounded in a close circle of loving friends, including Katie, Cathy and Penny, who helped care for him.
A memorial gathering was recently thrown in his Rogers Park apartment; a formal memorial will be held March 24 at Preston-Hanley Funeral Home in Pekin. Memorial contributions may be made to Seasons Hospice, which can be reached via its Web site, www.seasons.org .
Memorial contributions may be made to the Cook County Core Center, 2020 W. Harrison, Chicago, IL 60612, or Seasons Hospice House, Lincoln Park Hospital, 550 W. Webster, Chicago, IL 60614 ( or www.seasons.org ) .
Obituary submitted by friends of Ward Mayberry. |
|
|
|
This article shared 5008 times since Wed Mar 21, 2007
|
ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE |
---|
|
| | LGBTQ Catholic group mourns the passing of Bishop Thomas Gumbleton 2024-04-05 --From a press release - April 5, 2024. DignityUSA joins members of the Archdiocese of Detroit and millions of people around our country and the world in mourning the death of Detroit Bishop Thomas Gumbleton. Bishop Gumbleton received DignityUSA's Risk Taker/Justice ...
|
| | Ella Matthes, award-winning publisher, editor of Lesbian News Magazine, dies at 81 2024-04-05 --From an ILDKMedia press release - Los Angeles, CA - Ella Matthes, longtime publisher and editor of Lesbian News Magazine, passed away from a heart attack on March 16, 2024 at The Little Company of Mary hospital in Norwalk, California. She was ...
|
| | PASSAGES Dorothy Elizabeth McGroarty 2024-03-14 - Dorothy Elizabeth McGroarty, 82, of The Breakers at Edgewater Beach, and a former resident of Andersonville, passed away Feb. 16 surrounded by her loving family. Born in Dearborn, Michigan, Dorothy was raised on Chicago's South and ...
|
| | PASSAGES Bryan Dean Wilson 2024-03-14 - Bryan Dean Wilson, 64, of Chicago, passed away March 11. Born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Bryan graduated from Washington High school in Cedar Rapids before earning his B.S. in Biology from Mount Mercy University, also in ...
|
| | PASSAGES: Former Chicago Commission on Human Relations chair Clarence Wood 2024-03-13 - LGBTQ ally and former Chicago Commission on Human Relations (CCHR) Chair and Commissioner Clarence N. Wood died March 5. He was 83. Wood was born April 14, 1940, in Alabama. While primarily raised in Alabama, Wood ...
|
| | Longtime LGBTQ+-rights activist David Mixner dies at 77 2024-03-12 - On March 11, longtime LGBTQ+ and HIV/AIDS activist David Mixnerknown for working on Bill Clinton's presidential campaign but then splitting from him over "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT)died at age 77, The Advocate reported. ...
|
| | LGBTQ+ Victory Fund remembers co-founder David Mixner 2024-03-12 --From a press release - Today, LGBTQ+ Victory Fund President & CEO Mayor Annise Parker released the following statement on the passing of LGBTQ+ civil rights activist and LGBTQ+ Victory Fund co-founder David Mixner: "Today, we lost David Mixner, a founding ...
|
| | PASSAGES Charles R. Tobin 2024-03-03 - Charles R. Tobin, 81, peacefully passed away on Dec. 23, 2023, in the company of his husband, after living with Lewey body dementia for several years. Charlie was born and raised in the Fernwood neighborhood on ...
|
| | PASSAGES Trailblazing judge and attorney Patricia M. Logue passes away 2024-02-26 - The Honorable Patricia Logue ("Pat" to her friends, Trish" to her family) was a brilliant lawyer, a trailblazing jurist and a hero to the LGBTQ community. Pat's legacy includes numerous landmark cases she litigated over her ...
|
| | Oklahoma non-binary student dies after being assaulted 2024-02-21 - Officials acknowledged there are unresolved questions about a 16-year-old non-binary Oklahoma student who died one day after a fight in a high school bathroom, NBC News noted. Chuck Hoskin Jr., principal chief of the Cherokee Nation, ...
|
| | GLAAD remembers Cecilia Gentili, transgender Latina, actress, activist, health care activist, journalist 2024-02-06 --From a press release - (New York, NY - February 6, 2024) GLAAD, the world's largest LGBTQ media advocacy organization, is responding to the death of transgender actress and advocate Cecilia Gentili and elevating voices of transgender and political leaders honoring ...
|
| | More information emerges about death on Atlantis gay cruise 2024-02-04 By Lu Calzada - Further details have emerged following the death of a Chicago man on a Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas Atlantis cruise targeted towards gay men. Following a Reddit post by the man's sister which has ...
|
| | PASSAGES Imperial Court's Scott Archer remembered as selfless, devoted 2024-02-04 By Alec Karam - As the old saying goes, we all have an angel on one shoulder, and a devil on the other. Well, Scott Archer was all angel, his best friend Herman Coen believes. "Everybody wanted to talk to Scott, because Scott was Scott," ...
|
| | Broadway star Chita Rivera dies at 91 2024-01-30 - Chita Riveraa Broadway legend with more than seven decades of creditshas died at age 91 after a short illness, People Magazine reported. "It is with immense personal sorrow that I announce the death of the beloved ...
|
| | PASSSAGES Chef Michael Thomas Zito 2024-01-02 - Chef Michael Thomas Zito, 55, ("Chef Bear Italia" and "Big Chef") passed away December 12, 2023, unexpectedly at home in Chicago's Belmont Gardens neighborhood. Born in Kentucky to Pentecostal missionaries from New York, Mike began cooking ...
| |
|
|
|
|