By Diane Stulga; Photography courtesy of Mary Ward
When your first footprint in the sand of Long Beach Island was made when you were six months old the countless footprints you make throughout a lifetime remain on your heart forever. For Mary Park Ward nothing could be more true because generations of her family have left their footprints in the sands of their beloved barrier Island.
“My grandparents, Eugene and Mary O’Keeffe, were from Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania. My grandfather was the city editor for the Philadelphia Inquirer,” says Mary. “In the 1930s, they rented a house in Surf City. It was right on the beach. We always called it ‘The Smith House.’ It was rented every August for years by my family.”
Mary’s parents, Joseph and Julia Park, also worked for the Philadelphia Inquirer. My father was a commercial artist who worked in watercolors, and my mother was a reporter. They met at the newspaper,” says Mary. They started renting in Surf City in 1943. “My father was fond of walking to the beach to watch the pound fishermen return with their daily catch,” she says wistfully. Today, one of his watercolors of Ship Bottom graces a wall in her home.
The drive from Philadelphia to Long Beach Island was, “An all-day in-the-car event,” according to Mary. “It was a long day for a child.” In those days, the causeway bridge was an old wooden drawbridge. Sometimes the bridge was up. She vividly remembers the intense heat as they waited for a boat to go through. “Our car was not air conditioned. But we had to keep the windows rolled up because of the swarms of greenhead flies.”
Mary and her husband, John Ward, grew up in the same Philadelphia neighborhood. Childhood sweethearts, they married young and made their home in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania where they raised four children, Julie, Susan, Mary, and John.
John’s family had always vacationed in Wildwood. “Around 1959 we took a ride to LBI,” says Mary. “I wanted to show him the Island.” Years later they learned of a house for sale in Ship Bottom. “We went to see the house. But it had already sold.” Disappointed, yet undeterred and possibly even more determined, they asked a local realtor to show them the cheapest house for sale on the Island. “We put a down payment on it that day.”
Together with John’s business partner, Dan O’Mullan, and his wife, Arlene, they purchased the house at 2702 Long Beach Boulevard in Ship Bottom. Over the years, the two families alternated weekends and summer weeks at their LBI house. It was also rented to family and friends.
Originally, a two-room fishing cottage, the house needed serious renovation which John and Dan eventually completed. Until then, there was a hot water heater in the bathroom, but no indoor shower or tub. “Children were bathed in the kitchen sink,” laughs Mary. “We didn’t have air conditioning, heat, telephone, or television. But it was the best time of our lives.”
Mary recalls halcyon days spent on Ship Bottom beaches, her children playing in the sand, jumping waves and John fishing in the surf. Occasionally, they ventured out to Holgate, Barnegat Lighthouse, Kubel’s, Wida’s, The Dutchman’s or Surf Light Theatre.
At age 48, Mary began painting, initially in oils. After continuing her education at a community college, in 1991 she took a summer art class in Ireland where she transitioned to her father’s favorite medium, watercolors. Mary recalls the transition as one necessitated by medium drying time for her return flight. Watercolors dried faster than oils. In Ship Bottom, Mary took classes at the studio of LBI’S renowned artist the late Jane Law. She also took classes at The
Greater Norristown Art League and served on the board of directors.
After John and Dan passed away, in 2006 a friend and long-time renter of the house, Elizabeth, purchased Arlene’s one-half interest. Mary and she shared the house for nearly two decades and became close friends. Eventually, Elizabeth returned to England and the house was sold in 2022.
Although the waves have long ago washed their footprints from the sand — for Mary — the people who made them and the memories they shared will remain in her heart forever.
