Thelma Elizabeth Jane Dance Ward

Thelma Elizabeth Jane Dance Ward, age 89, of Gulfport, went home to be with her Lord and Savior on June 26, 2021. She was born on November 12, 1931, in Montezuma, New Mexico to missionary parents and theologians, James Claude Dance and Maude Fullerton Dance. She later moved with her family back to their home in Pineville, Kentucky to continue their work of planting churches and ministering to the rural people of the Cumberland Gap region of the Appalachian Mountains in eastern Kentucky and Tennessee. Thelma’s passion for mission work was rooted from her family heritage and the values instilled in her by her parents. She dedicated herself to service at an early age, playing the piano during Sunday services and helping in Vacation Bible School in the churches that her parents founded, while ministering alongside her mother and siblings to those living in the rural areas around her home. After high school, she attended college at Carson-Newman University in Jefferson City, Tennessee, where she obtained her teaching degree. While in college she continued her mission work for the first time away from home, spending her summer witnessing to those in the French Cajun communities in south Louisiana. Upon graduation, she moved to Gulfport, accepting a teaching position at Gulfport High School where she taught French and English. In 1953, she became a member of First Baptist Church Gulfport. One afternoon, while standing in front of Triplett Day Drugs in downtown Gulfport with her pastor’s wife and family friend, Mabel Odle, she was introduced to a fellow church member, Henry “Hank” Ward. The two quickly fell in love and after a brief courtship, Hank and Thelma were married on October 17, 1954. They enjoyed 51 years of blissful marriage until Hank’s death in 2006. Thelma was very dedicated to her church and on the date of her death was one of its oldest members. She served in many different capacities as a member of First Baptist Gulfport including, Sunday School teacher, Women’s Missionary Union Director, Tuesday Missions Luncheon Leader, and church liaison to the Gulf Coast Baptist Association. She served on several pastor search committees and numerous other committees within the church, always willing to give of her time and efforts in service of the Lord. She led numerous Bible studies, volunteered for Vacation Bible School until she was 87 years old, and was a member of the Scrap Iron Sunday school class. She served as a counselor at the Gulf Coast Community Ministries Food Pantry, where she was also a board member. Thelma was also committed to service in her community and abroad, serving as President of the Gulfport Junior Woman’s Club and the Junior Auxiliary of Gulfport, and as a national officer for the National Association of Junior Auxiliaries. During her life, Thelma made mission trips to the Mississippi Delta region, New Orleans, Louisiana, Guatemala, and the Philippines. Her pinnacle year was traveling to the Holy Land in 2000 with the love of her life, Hank. Thelma had a true servant’s heart. She loved her Lord, her family and all of those that knew her. She is preceded in death by her parents, Reverend and Mrs. James Claude Dance, her brothers, James Lee Dance and Thomas Riley Dance, and her beloved husband, Henry Deas “Hank” Ward. She is survived by her sons, James David Ward (Leslie) and Stephen Henry Ward (Lori), her daughter, Janie Lee Ward Bertucci (Frank), her brother, William Elijah Dance, her eight grandchildren: Lee Anne Bertucci, Jeffrey Ward Bertucci (Lauren), Frank Ryland Bertucci (Laine), Wren Elizabeth Ward Williams (Sammy), Helen Deas Ward Cheek (Ed), Anne Bridges Ward Tubbs (Brad), Christian Lee Stansel (Kayla), and Mark Duane Folks, and ten great grandchildren. The family wishes to thank Dr. Douglas Lanier, Dr. Matthew Hann, the staff at MedCentris, Lisa Miskell, Easter Weathersby, Betty Johnson, Linda Ellsberry, Janet Caldwell, and Stephanie Hanson for the loving care that was given to “Ms. Thelma.” A visitation will be held on Wednesday, June 30, 2021, from 5pm-7pm at Bradford O’Keefe Funeral Home, 1726 15th Street in Gulfport. Funeral service will be held on Thursday, July 1, 2021, at 10:30am at First Baptist Church Gulfport, with a visitation to be held one hour prior to the service. Interment will be in Floral Hills Memorial Gardens. Bradford-O’Keefe Funeral Home, 15th Street, Gulfport is honored to serve the Ward family. View and sign the online tribute at www.bokfh.com. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be made to Gulf Coast Community Ministries, 3914 15th Street, Gulfport, MS 39501, or First Baptist Church Gulfport with an emphasis on missions, 12190 MS Hwy 605, Gulfport, MS 39503.