Evelyn May Ward

Evelyn May (Hoyt) Ward, 85, passed away at her home in Goodland, Kansas on December 10, 2025. She was born on August 22, 1940 to Ernest F. Hoyt and May L. (Butler) Hoyt at the family farm in a sod house in Sherman County, Kansas.

She met the love of her life Edison G. Ward in Porcupine, SD on the Pine Ridge Reservation, and they became one in 1972 in Sundance, WY, and blended their family together with Gwen, Eddie, E.G, and Tom Ward. She and her husband made their home in Martin, SD, and to this union were born two children Sarah and Seth Ward.

She had multiple dual educations. Evelyn got a dual Bachelors at Kansas State University and dual Masters at the University of Denver, CO. Evelyn devoted her life to teaching and was always learning. She taught in a two room school house in Baine City, Kansas to the enlisted people at Fort Leavenworth. From there she had a calling to go teach on the Navajo Reservation. Evelyn always said it was important to meet the kids where they were at. She believed that so much she dived into the culture and language to help the students learn better.

She was a part of the development of the national Head Start Program and building it to what it is today. She went to the Pine Ridge Reservation to help them start their Head Start programs.

When she could no longer get on the ground with the little kids anymore she became a social worker. During her spare time she also taught at a Community College, and continued teaching college classes even after she retired. Her biggest joy was writing about all the history in Sherman County, doing interviews with community members and writing numerous books and other articles as part of the Sherman County Historical Society. Evelyn is the one that always provided KLOE with their history of the day.

Evelyn loved spending her time reading, especially history. She was always learning new things and expanding her knowledge. She was really good at thinking outside of the box. She always said that history isn’t just about famous people it is about everyone’s daily lives.

She is survived by her children Sarah Ward of Goodland KS, Seth Ward of Raton NM, and her husband’s children Gwen Ward and E.G. Ward of Martin, SD, and brother Leon Hoyt of Colby, KS, and her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and her cousins, and nieces and nephews.

Evelyn was preceded in death by her parents Ernest and May Hoyt, her husband Edison G. Ward, her daughter Margaret Ward, her sons Edward and Tom Ward, her sisters Dorothy Huffman and Phyllis Masters, and numerous aunts, uncles and cousins.

Memorial contributions may be made out to the Goodland Public Library and may be left at the services or mailed to Koons-Russell Funeral Home, 211 N. Main Ave., Goodland, KS 67735.