Visiting Hours For Chris Ward Today

Memorial services for Chris Ward, the 19-year-old Woburn resident on Route 93, have been set for Friday.

Visiting hours at the are Thursday between 2 and 8 p.m. A funeral Mass will be held at , 138 Cambridge Road, at 10 a.m. with interment following at Calvary Cemetery.

Donations may be made in Ward’s memory to the Special Olympics, ATTN: Web Gifts, 1133 19th St. NW, 12th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20036.

Ward died suddenly Saturday morning when his car went off Route 93, plummeting about 40 feet onto the Route 28 on-ramp shortly before 1 a.m. Ward was extricated from the car and rushed to Massachusetts General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

According to a preliminary investigation by the Massachusetts State Police, Ward lost control of his vehicle while heading up the on-ramp, causing the car to veer off the elevated roadway, crossing over the guardrail and landing 30 to 40 feet onto the Route 28 on-ramp.

What caused Ward to lose control of the car remains under investigation.

Ward, 19, was born in Flemington, NJ, to John J. and Maureen (O’Donnell) Ward. The family lived in New Jersey before moving to the west side of Woburn in 2002. Ward attended the , and before graduating as part of the Class of 2010.

The 19-year-old was known to many as an athlete, playing Little League baseball, Babe Ruth baseball and Woburn Recreational League basketball and youth lacrosse. At Woburn High, he was a member of the basketball, football and wrestling teams. He was also a "netminder" for the WMHS Tanners. 

Ward was the youngest of the family, and the only son. He is survived by sisters, Colleen J. Marino and her husband Michael J. of Somerville and Kasey Rose Ward of Woburn.

He is also survived by his grandparents, Jim and Joyce O'Donnell of Woburn and Rosemarie P. Ward of Medford; his aunts and uncles, Fran and Robert Boyd of North Reading, Lynne and Gary Guarino of Dunstable, James and Lisa O'Donnell of Essex, Erin and Thomas Burke of Shirley, Leo and Judy Ward of Medford, David and Lisa Ward of Everett and Robert and Pam Horgan of New Hampshire; his niece, Emma Josephine of Somerville; and thirteen cousins and close friends.

Ward was predeceased by his grandfather, John J. “Jack” Ward.