Robert W. Ward

Robert Walter Ward (November 26, 1929 – April 3, 1997) was an American electrician, businessman, and government executive, and Republican politician from the U.S. state of Alaska. He was the third Secretary of State of Alaska from 1969 to 1970, and was the last person to serve under that title, as the title was changed to lieutenant governor by a constitutional amendment passed by voters on August 25, 1970, making him the first lieutenant governor of Alaska. The department had been created the previous year by Hammond by merging the Departments of Highways and Public Works.

Ward left state service in 1982, and worked as a lobbyist in Juneau. He was diagnosed with leukemia in January 1996. His last public act was serving as a presidential elector in the 1996 election. He interrupted the treatment he was undergoing in Seattle for his leukemia in order to participate in the balloting. in 1973. They had three children: Kenneth, Robert Jr. and Karen. He married Beverly Ann Wilson on June 26, 1976, and remained with her until his death.

Kenneth Ward established a commuter airline, Ward Air. Robert Ward, Jr. was a candidate for a Ketchikan-area seat in the Alaska House of Representatives in the 1980s, and is currently the city manager of Skagway, Alaska.