Lavell George Ward
Lavell George Ward (23 Apr 1914-5 Mar 1977) was a Bear Lake educator in various capacities beginning in 1938. He was born at home in Bloomington, the doctor came by sleigh that snowy April morning for the delivery. Lavell's ancestors had helped settle the town in the 1860s coming from a small village in England. His mother's Bunderson ancestors had made a similar journey from Sweden to help settle St Charles. His mother often told him stories of when she was a child, of Native Americans camping on St Charles Creek for the winter and breaking the ice for their bathing needs.
Ward attended Bloomington Elementary and in 1927 began his high school years on the hill above Paris at fielding Academy. The academy burned down so his sophomore year was spent in various buildings around Paris until the new Fielding High School was completed as he began his junior year.
Ward was one of 60 graduates in May 1931 and attended "the AC" (now USU in Logan) for two years before leaving for Nazi Germany in 1933 where he served an LDS Mission until 1936. He toured Europe and the Middle East alone for three months before returning to his studies at Logan. He graduated in 1938 with a BS in science and math emphasis.
In Sep 1938 Ward began his Bear Lake education saga at Georgetown High School teaching science and math and coaching basketball. In October he "took the weekend off" to marry Meryl Romney. The next week his fellow teacher at Georgetown, Lewis Munk asked Ward to help with his classes that week so that Munk could get married also.
From 1939 to 1953, Ward was not primarily an educator as he worked in Pocatello for four years as a social worker for the state of Idaho with the Blackfoot Indian Reservation and the state hospital. In 1944 he returned to Bloomington to be a partner in the family ranch, which was his primary work until 1953. His public life during this period included serving as a bishop of his ward for eight years, a short time as county probate judge and in 1952 he represented Bear Lake County at the Idaho state legislature in Boise.
In 1948 the Fielding High School principal, M D Lowe became ill and Ward, at the request of the school board helped out the rest of the year teaching full-time. In 1953 Ward returned to education for the rest of his life. His wife had become ill and needed long term care and treatment in Ogden. That year Ward taught physics and math at Weber High School in Ogden, returning to Bear Lake on weekends for his seven children's needs. After returning full time to Bear Lake, he began teaching science and math at Fielding High School, with a typical schedule including algebra II, chemistry, physics, German and trigonometry. He also introduced a wrestling program at Fielding High School which helped develop the sport in other parts of the state as well.
He was especially proud of the two Idaho National Science Fair winners from Fielding in 1959 and 1960 whose robot projects went to Boston and Indianapolis, respectively, for national honors. In 1961 and 1962 while still teaching at Fielding High School, Ward completed a masters degree in counseling at USU and then became the first guidance counselor for both Fielding and Montpelier high schools. He typically spent alternating days at the two campuses.
For several years, he worked to develop and implement the consolidation of the two high school in 1967 into the present Bear Lake High School. During his final years in the 1970s he was heavily involved at both the local and regional level in developing technical trade school opportunities for all students.
In addition to his diligence as an educator, Ward continued to contribute to the broader community, especially the Boy Scouts of American and to the state mental health board.