Dave Ward

David H. "Dave" Ward was a blacksmith and founder of the Ward Body Works in Conway, Arkansas.

Ward became owner of the company that bears his name in 1968, passing from the hands of his father David H. "Dave" Ward. The elder Ward, a blacksmith by trade, founded Ward Body Works in Conway in the 1930s to manufacture all-steel buses.

The company passed into the hands of son Charles Ward in 1968. By 1973 it was the largest school bus manufacturer in the world, with a twenty-five percent market share. A second plant opened in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, but this operation failed in 1975. The company, then known as Ward School Bus Manufacturing, went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1979. The plant in Conway is now owned by the IC Corporation.

Dave Ward Drive in Conway (also known as Arkansas Highway 286) is named for the bus company founder.

References

• Barry Beck, "Ward Industries, Inc.: A Historical Study," Faulkner Facts and Fiddlings 16 (Winter 1974): 67-83.
• Toby Manthey, "Maker of School Buses Lays Off 170 in Conway," Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, March 27, 2009.