Sally Sue Ward

Sally Sue Ward “Mustang Sally” (65) of Lee’s Summit, Missouri passed away on Tuesday, February 27th at St. Lukes East Hospital. Sally is survived by her sister, Martha Ward, her niece and nephew, Elizabeth Alexander and Chris Mason, and her partner, Brian Born. She was preceded in death by her parents, Charles and Martha Jane Ward, and her sister Mary Alexander.

Sally was born on February 19th, 1959 in Kansas City, Missouri and shares her birthday with her mother. She was the youngest of three daughters. The family moved to Raytown, Missouri in 1960. By the time she could walk, she earned the nickname “Tiger” stemming from her fearless curiosity and sometimes sassy personality. She graduated from Raytown South High School in 1977 and went to work full time right after graduation. She earned her bachelor’s degree, while working full time at Amoco Oil, in Information Systems from Park University in 1986. Right after graduation she earned a promotion with Amoco Oil and moved to their Chicago office. After three years in Chicago, she made the decision to move home to Kansas City, and accepted a position as a programmer with American Century Investments in 1991. She left American Century in 2002. She accepted a position at GEHA in 2005 and worked as a business analyst until she retired in 2016.

Sally had many hobbies including gardening, floral arrangements, jewelry making, music, camping, cooking/bbq, traveling, red wine and her beloved Kansas City Chiefs. Sally got her green thumb from her parents, who were both long time gardeners. She took classes in Florida in Floral Arrangements and made beautiful flower arrangements for friends, family and coworkers for any occasion. She was a very accomplished, self taught jewelry artist, attending art shows and pop up events and even had a small business to sell her creations. She traveled to many places in the US and abroad with friends and family and her favorite trips were to the beach. She got her love for bbqing from her dad, who was a master of the bbq and she became a bbq master herself and had many bbq’s over the years with friends and family. Her love of red wine started with several of her friends going to wine tastings and joining wine clubs. She went on a girls wine trip to Sonoma Valley California in 2019. She was a music lover, especially the blues and went to many concerts and listened to live music wherever she traveled or at local establishments with her many friends who were music lovers. She spent her retirement years enjoying RVing and boating at Stockton Lake with her partner. Her perfect day would be spent out on the lake and then grilling dinner at their favoritie campsite, followed by a campfire, watching boats go by and watching the sunsets. She got her love of football and the Chiefs starting at a young age from her parents who were season ticket holders. The whole family drove down to New Orleans when the Chiefs went to their first Superbowl in 1970 and Sally has been a loyal fan ever since.

Sally will be remembered by her many friends, family and coworkers as someone who enjoyed life to the fullest. She had a bold, fearless personality, which earned her the nickname “Mustang Sally” in her young adult years and that never changed. That song was always requested whenever she went out and everyone got up on the dance floor when it was played. She was very generous to her loved ones and her many friends. She leaves behind a legacy of laughter, generosity and a little bit of mischief. She lived her life her way and was just a girl that wanted to have fun.

A celebration of her life will be from 4-6pm on Thursday, May 16th at Stonehaus Winery, 24607 NE Colbern Rd., Lee’s Summit, MO 64086 in the Garden Room. Join us to toast to Sally’s fabulous life, share some laughs and tell your best Mustang Sally story that has made you smile. She was always the life of the party and would want to keep the party going and for her people to be happy.