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Our brother was no ordinary man, he had a big
heart with a little bit of fire in his soul.
So this isn’t going to be your grandmas life sketch. If you knew him, you too know our brother “Hit
those gold streets on two wheels and is giving Heaven some Hell”
Troy Vance Ward; a fiery red head, was born to Vance and JoAnn Ward March 6, 1969 in Malad, Idaho. We are pretty sure he hit the ground running but Mom swears he waited until he was a year old. We do know, his mouth started running, way before his feet. No surprise, he would say things like “Did you see John Newport got a new John Deere?”.
Vance
and JoAnn should probably be to blamed for Troys need for adrenaline, since
they got him his first snowmobile at the age of 4 and toted him around to all
of our Dad’s snowmobile races. Needless
to say Ward Farms was always full of Darrel, Troy, Shawn and Larin blazing
through the yard with snowmobiles, Honda FL 250’s, four-wheelers and motor
cycles. This set the pace to describe
Troys life speed, adrenaline and adventure.
Lets add a little bit of mischief to that. Our Grandpa used to chew so Troy took grandpa’s Skol can and filled it up with shredded jerky and took it to church. For a nice sacrament meeting snack. He would even tap the can before opening it, much to our parents dismay.
Uncle
Darrel, Troys claimed other brother, slash partner in crime, once bet Troy $20
to eat a nightcrawler of coarse he did it, with the evidence left in Troys
braces.
Darrel shared, when Troy was
16 we were cleaning the corrals out and hauling the manure up to a brush patch
and dumping it. On one of the loads Troy
caught a big snake and brought it back to the house with him to show everyone. It was a blow snake and he would let it wrap
all around him while he held its head.
Troy was notorious for wrecking cars, and snowmobiles. So when Troy came to show our Mom the snake, she was upset with him and started smacking him in the chest shoving him back out of the house. Because she was sure he had wrecked something yet again. He was so disappointed in her reaction. Mom said she had to sit down after he left because then it hit her, he had a huge snake around his neck.
Troy
attended grade school at Arbon Elementary, one of the larger classes of 6. He
then went on to attend Malad High school, graduating in 1987. Then attending ISU VoTech program earning his
welding certificate. During that time, he
took scuba diving classes and met the love of his life, Wendy Whitworth. They married on August 11, 1989.
He
started his work journey on Ward Farms learning to operate and maintain
machinery and feeding animals. He
claimed his love of big machines started when he got to help run the backhoe to
dig the hole for our childhood home when he was little. He drove the Kenworth from the Wheatfield to
the granary when he was just 13 years old.
He later worked in Salt Lake City, Nevada and Pocatello. They moved to Filer when he went to work for Amalgamated Sugar in 1989, in what was supposed to be a two-year job building a separator. He worked hard to learn how each piece of machinery operated and later became the facility manager. He retired in 2022.
After
Troy and Wendy moved to Filer they were blessed with two children Whitney Lee
on May 13,1993 and later Cayleb Troy April 25, 1995. They were later blessed with a son in-law
Jeff Harris and daughter in-law Jordon and then 6 grandchildren. Addy, Heston
and Charlotee Harris. Luke, Kollyns and
Crew Ward.
He
loved to work with his family but he also loved to have fun, riding
snowmobiles, dirt bikes and side-by-sides.
He also loved to hunt with his family, sky diving and bungee
jumping. He made many trips rock
hounding and exploring.
He began his short lived car racing career at Magic Valley speed way in 1997 with the lucky number 13, where he won the Hard Charger Award and the nick name Slide Em Sideways Ward.
Jaime shared
It was a windy and cold day.
Cayleb had just acquired his grandpas boat and we were thrilled to take it out
fishing. We convinced Troy to join. The irony here is that none of us actually
had an ounce of patience to be fishing we usually got out on the water and
would call it an early day.
Regardless this day we headed
out to Salmon dam excited as ever to ride out in the new fishing boat. Now
remember that this day probably wasn’t the optimal weather to be fishing in. It
was windy and to top it of the wind had a frigid bite to it. Cayleb was in the
driver seat Troy to the left and I sat bitch-“middle”. We began across the
water in the new fishing boat and were quickly sprayed with ice cold water. The
wakes in the water from the wind were two to three time the height of the bow
of the boat. Every time the bow would dip under the wakes it would continue to
fill the boat and splash us with water. We were so cold that day! Boarder line
hypothermic. We huddle all three of us together to warm up and all while
laughing the entire time. Every time the water splashed us regardless of how
cold it was we would laugh hysterically knowing damn well this day was not the
day to be fishing.
The reminder of this day was Troys laughter. It was an infectious laugh that as soon as you heard it you wanted to join in and figure out what was so funny. I can still hear it to this day. The memory so crisp and clear of three friends in an old tin can boat fishing. Troy wasn’t just Cayleb’s father, he was our lifelong friend that was always there for us. The greatest adventure buddy a guy could ask for.
Mark shared
Uncle Troy was a huge part of my whole life, I’d say he was more of a Big Bother to me than an Uncle. He was always taking me on some sort of adventure whether it be rattlesnake hunting, looking for arrow heads, riding dirt bikes, working on his square body two-tone apple red and I believe dark brown Chevy pickup. I thought that pickup was the coolest thing I’d ever seen growing up so I’d like to share one of my memories in that exact pickup. We were all camping at 24 mile reservoir for our annual Memorial Day camp trip. I was probably 5 or 8 years old at the time Uncle Troy, myself, Grandma Whit and her best friend Needa Kent jumped in the pickup with Troy and headed for the hills. The road up Into the Mountains ran right alongside the creek fed the reservoir just before we hit the mountain range the beavers had built a dam and there was a big muddy swamp that one of Troy’s buddy’s had quote “run off the road and gotten himself stuck in” Not to worry we were there to rescue him, but not first without launching up over the beaver dam around his buddy and through the swamp. When we come to a screeching stop on the other side of the swamp I was screaming and crying and carrying on. Troy was frantically trying to figure out what was wrong with me I whacked him and yelled YOU GOT MUD IN MY EYES! Which I found out later was actually Grandmas and Needa’s special orange juice…. I’m going to miss Uncle Troy dearly, just glad we got as many adventures as we did.
Jordan shared
Cayleb, Jaime Troy and I went dirt biking on the rainiest day in Hagerman. Cayleb and Jaime dropped down the big hill first and Troy was yelling at me to stop but I couldn’t hear him and I was so focused on not crashing that I didn’t see Jaime and Cayleb waving at me to stop. This hill was soup! I go down and for safety reasons Troy comes down right after me and dog piles all of us. Jaime and Cayleb were taking care of the dirt bikes and Troy and I were on our hands and knees climbing out. He was trying to keep up with me so his eyeballs about popped out of his head and he could hear his own heart beat. I just kept going faster because he kept gagging so then I would gag and I didn’t want to keep gagging but of course he wouldn’t let me go faster so we both just climbed this hill on our knees gagging covered in mud. Then him and I split an uncrustable at the top and watched the boys struggle to get the dirt bikes out for over 4 hours.
Jeff shared
After I married Whitney, Troy
gladly and graciously accepted me into his family. He would often call or text
to check in and would tell us that he loved us and that he was proud of me. He
just did a really good job of letting us know he cared... But that didn't stop
him from seemingly trying to get me killed anytime he was behind the wheel of whatever
motorized vehicle we were both in!
Several years ago he was joining me on a bull elk hunt in Soda Springs on my families ranch. After hiking most the morning we finally spotted some elk quite a ways away on the other side of the Bear River from where we were hunting. I told him there is a private road that would take us around and across the river and then it would put us onto a little dirt trail that goes through some of our grazing grounds and that it would lead us right to where the elk were. Knowing he would be driving me in my new razer to get over there, and having ptsd from other experiences of being with him while he was driving. I explained how important it would be to just drive slow and steady. That if we did, it probably wouldn't spook the elk as bad. So we hopped in my side by side and as you could expect.. he floored it! Not only were we going Mach 5, he also decided to make his own trail! So after dodging rocks, jumping ditches and running over 80 acres of sage brush he delivered me 200 yards from a nice bull elk. It was a victorious hunt. However.. A couple hours later I got a phone call from the fish and game officer saying that someone had a video of us chasing elk on a side by side to which Troy replied "we weren't chasing them.. we were just trying to catch up to them". No tickets were given. And as per always a great memory was made.
Troy had worked on a lawnmower because it kept cutting out. If you bounced the handle a little bit it start to run smooth again. One day he was upset and decided to mow the lawn. The mower kept cutting out and he was bouncing it extra hard when the handle broke off and the mower kept driving away. he couldn't shut it off or stop it. Frustrated, he started hitting it with the handle when it caught the bars and flipped around upside down and hooked him in the...spot. He was worried of the damage and headed to the house yelling for the kids to leave and for Wendy to come check it. Rolling around on the floor he got the courage to check and when all was seen to be intact, he started laughing and thus had new story to tell.
Whitney shared
I think I got my love for
speed, adventure and adrenaline rushes from my dad. He taught me how to ride a
dirt bike, a snowmobile, jet ski, you name it!
When dad used to race I
remember him running test laps and I wanted him to pick me up so I pushed my
doll through the wire fence to see if he would stop and get it for me! He
always gave Cayleb and I hot laps around the driveway in the racecar and that
was the best.
I remember riding on the front
of a jet ski with dad once and he was spinning a cookie, creating this big hole
in the water around us, and I accidentally pulled the rip cord and killed the
jet ski. The water came crashing in on top of the jet ski. Oops!
I remember wanting to get back
into dirt biking. Dad was all about it, but he was all about safety too. He
took me to the store and got me all the gear, chest protector, jersey, boots,
etc.
Later we went out for a ride
and as dad always says when referring to it I “dirt checked” my bike. Basically
I Flipped it and went flying, skidding across the ground. I complained to my
dad that I had torn up my new gear, and he said better that than tearing up or
grinding up my body!
I’m sure snowmobiling with us was
a joy when we were younger. We got stuck a ton. But he was always there to help
get us out, and he kept taking us and teaching us. He once told me “when it
doubt throttle out”. Pretty sure I always rode with the throttle pinned after
that!
For my 25 birthday I convinced
my dad and Jordan to come jump out of a perfectly good plane with me. Cayleb,
Jeff, and mom wanted nothing to do with the affair and stayed home. We
recruited some friends and drove down to Boise together.
We started filling out pages and pages of waivers I remember dad looking at me and pointing out some bullets that if he indicated he had problems with they wouldn’t have let him go. He looks at me goes “eh what the hell” signs the waiver and off we go. Only two people could fit in the plane so dad went by himself so Jord and I could go together. I remember watching the plane go up with dad and knowing that he jumped and not hearing a scream or anything from him. I started thinking I’d kill my dad by letting him sign that waiver and that mom was going to kill me! Come to find out I’m pretty sure he was holding his breathe until the parachute popped. Scared the crap out of me!
Troy took
a 1 year leave of absence from the Sugar factory to go to Wyoming and work in
the oil fields. To help our brother Shawn run his trucking business there.
Zach shares
While in Wyoming working with Troy, we went to our favorite/only Mexican restaurant. At the restaurant another worker had a soup with a Jalapeño. Troy made a big deal the guy wasn’t eat it and took a big bite. After a couple of chews it was instant regret. He quickly started eating anything he could off of anyone’s plate. His ears were red and he was sweating, but like a champion he got it all down. His comment was “Now that Jalapeno was hot!” Then he got talking, laughing and joking with everyone, until ten minutes later. He abruptly stood up, threw his wallet at me to pay for all the workers and said “I gotta go NOW!” He got in his little car and peeled out of there like it was the NASCAR 500. When Kade and I got back to the trailer, there was Troy’s car pulled in sideways, car door wide open, binder on the ground, boots on the porch, keys left in the lock, coveralls in the doorway, shirt in the living room, pants in the kitchen and Troy was still in the bathroom. I am surprised that little cars engine didn’t blow, cause it was a true race against the clock to see who would win … Nature or Man.
Those of us that know our family know that we have stomach problems and know we also like spicy food. Which later causes regrets. Let’s just say there is a text thread between Troy, and us. We love to share what we have eaten, but we never quite believed each other how hot things are. One time us girls ate ghost peppers at a fast food restaurant and later both paid the price. We shared the experience in the text thread. Troy however, didn’t believe that a Ghost pepper could be that hot from a fast food restaurant so he had to go try it for himself. Later paying the price and becoming the porcelain King. He shared many times how he would try someone’s lunch from the sugar factory, thinking wow that’s a little hot, then as he continued eating, wow that’s really hot, then hours later thinking I hate myself! But did he continue to eat spicy food…he sure did!
We all know Troy didn’t always
have the best of luck.
One
time cleaning out the corrals Troy and Joel Silvia would race to see who could
unload their truck the fastest and Troy backed down the hill crocked and when
he raised the hoist it tipped the truck over.
When Troy is upset he needs to keep busy. When he heard the news of Jareds passing he decided he needed spray some weeds. Well he had put blue dye in the sprayer and swung it up on his back. Off he went not knowing it was dripping as he went… later that evening when cleaning up he realized his hands and lower half were dyed blue like a smurf… he was so stressed he was going to have blue hands at the funeral.
Addys favorite memory of Grandpa is after
Charlotte was born and grandpa took her to a local rock shop and picked out
some special rocks.
Hestons favorite memory is going on the side by
side and looking for “ball rocks” together
Charlotte loved to talk to Grandpa on the phone
when he called and she loved to snuggle and watch a show with him when he
visited.
Luke: loves when him and papa Troy would play rough house. When papa Troy was around we always had someone to wrestle with. Luke loved that papa would always play cars and Lego’s with him. He loved when papa would come stay at our house and hangout
The twins always liked papa and were never
scared of him somehow.
We could go on for hours of all the adventures and adrenaline stories but instead we are going to wrap it up with our favorite things of Troy.
Jessi – I’m going to miss his
laugh, his hugs, that I knew he would help me with anything, that he always
told me he loved me (and I knew he meant it even when we were mad at each
other).
Heather –I will miss the late night conversations, the stories and him bragging how proud he was of his kids and their spouses. And of course, him always telling me what a crappy cook I was compared to Wendy. Thank you brother for being there for my kids and offering them a safe place to stay and with open arms and unjudgmental listening.
Well he lived life full of adventure and gave us a life time of memories. We will leave you with his favorite quote. “Life’s journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to slide in sideways, totally worn out, shouting “HOLY SHIT … WHAT A RIDE!”
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