Sue Fryer Ward

Sue Fryer Ward (October 28, 1935 – June 22, 2014) was an American elder rights activist who served as the first secretary of the Maryland Department of Aging. Trained as a social worker, Ward spent several decades as a public servant and advocate for the needs of elders. In 2010, she was honored as a Social Work Pioneer by the National Association of Social Workers.

Early life and education Sue F. Ward was born Sue Elleanore Fryer in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1935. She was the younger daughter of Ione Pierce and E. Reeseman Fryer. Her father worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the family traveled across the country and the world throughout her childhood, with Sue attending more than a dozen different schools during her elementary and junior high school years. A decade of her childhood was spent in Arizona, which would influence her later work as an elder rights advocate; she said she was inspired by the respect with which the Navajo treated their elders. After starting graduate school at McGill University, she moved to Utah to finish her studies at the University of Utah, where she graduated with a master's in social work in 1960.

Among various awards for her work, Ward was honored as a Social Work Pioneer by the National Association of Social Workers in 2010.

Personal life She was married to the sociologist Archibald Ward from 1959 until his death in 2000. They had two daughters. Archibald was 23 years her senior, and her work in elder advocacy became personal as she cared for him in his old age, as well as for her mother, who had dementia.