By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
Driven by a lifelong love of fishing, a California man celebrated his 100th birthday last week by flying to Sitka with his family to fish for salmon and halibut.
For decades, John H. Ward has made an annual fishing pilgrimage to Sitka from his home in Glendale, California.
It started some 25 years ago at a meeting of the San Fernando Valley Saltwater Fishing Club, where the speaker was Herb Tennell of Sitka.
“It is through our fishing club that I belong to, they invited Herb Tennell to speak to us about fishing in Alaska,” Ward said Friday after stepping off a charter fishing boat at the Longliner Lodge.
After hearing Tennell expound on the bounteous sport fishing around Sitka, some members of the Glendale club decided to see for themselves, Ward said.
“And the club decided to make it a club trip and open it to all of the club members,” he said. “And being a longtime member of the fishing club, I joined with the group. I think there were six of us from our fishing club who came up to Sitka.”
Centenarian sport fisherman John H. Ward, from Glendale, California, smiles as he holds up a freshly caught coho salmon Friday at the Highliner Lodge dock off Katlian Street. Ward has been coming to Sitka to fish during summer for about 25 years. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)
That was the beginning of a long-running family tradition for Ward, who recalls coming to Sitka to fish every summer for about 25 years.
He turned 100 on the first of September and on the next day, accompanied by a group of family members, he took off for six days of fishing in Sitka.
Over the years Ward’s annual fishing trip has morphed into a full-family event, said Ward’s son James, 65.
“We came here to celebrate, because it’s a tradition to go fishing in the summertime,” said the younger Ward. “The family loves to eat salmon and halibut. So it’s part of our existence.”
All told, nine members of the Ward family spanning four generations came to Sitka this year to celebrate John Ward’s centennial. The youngest family member, Shay, is only nine months old.
In keeping with tradition, the family fished with Herb Tennell and Outbound Alaska Charters in conjunction with the Longliner Lodge on Katlian Street.
James Ward said that he and his father have had great success fishing with Tennell’s guidance. On this year’s trip the elder Ward landed a king salmon and helped fight a halibut.
“He didn’t bring it in all the way, but we’ve got a 100-year-old man catching a 100-pound halibut,” the younger Ward said.
Planning for the annual trip to Sitka keeps his father active, he said.
“In the fall of the year we start planning for the next summer and then it’s something to anticipate,” the son said. “It keeps him spry and he’s talking about it... We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Outbound Alaska and Herb Tennell. And now that they have the Longliner Lodge and Kevin Palmer who runs it for them, we’re just really appreciative of everything that they’ve done.”
This year, the group ran into a glitch at the airport when TSA staff misinterpreted John Ward’s age.
“They wouldn’t accept the boarding pass because when they scanned it they thought he was one day old,” his son said. John Ward was allowed to board the aircraft after airport personnel saw that he was not a newborn baby, James Ward said.
The elder Ward’s love for Sitka runs so deep now that he has persuaded others in California to travel north for fishing opportunities.
“It’s something that I find is a good talking point when I’m meeting with friends trying to get some of the men that I know interested in coming fishing with me,” James Ward said, “and I’ve been successful in getting a couple of friends interested in Sitka and they’ve made arrangements on their own and they’ve become fascinated in saltwater fishing out of Alaska and specifically Sitka, because it’s well known as a fishing destination.”
He credits his longevity to three factors.
“If you want to know my reason that I’m 100 years old and healthy. I’ve got three nevers: I never smoke, I’ve never been overweight, and I never refused a drink of good bourbon whiskey,” Ward said. He was born on September 1, 1921.
He has no plan to stop and intends to fish with Tennell and the Longliner for his 101st birthday next year.
“Absolutely, I plan to come back and I look forward to fishing with the same hotel group that I’ve been with for so long,” Ward said.
On Tuesday Ward and his family group returned home, with boxes of frozen fish and memories of an eventful 100th birthday fishing in Sitka.
