Erica L. Ward

Vershire, Vt. — Erica L. Ward passed away from Cystic Fibrosis at UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center in Los Angeles, Calif. on Sunday, Jan. 1, 2017. Erica was born on June 16, 1991 to the parents of Timothy S. and Kelly M. Ward, both of Vershire. She leaves behind a sister, Jessica L. Ward; her grandfather, Stephen R. Ward and a grandmother, Diann D. Ward also of Vershire. She was predeceased by her grandfather, Dwain E. Flanders and her grandmother, Louise A. Flanders of Corinth. She also leaves behind many aunts, uncles and cousin’s as well as a huge network of friends and other family members.

Erica graduated from Chelsea High School in 2009. She started working at the young age of 15 at various stores in the area. She was a bartender at the Wagon Wheel Bar & Grill, in Chelsea, Vt. and at Mirage, in Raleigh, N.C. She also worked at Mountain View of Vershire as a caregiver. She completed her EMT class and worked with Vershire Fire & Rescue to help others in need. Throughout her life she enjoyed many things such as hunting with her family, four wheeling and mudding with her friends every chance she got. She also had a great love for basketball and horseback riding. She dreamed of furthering her career by becoming a drug and alcohol counselor to help others. She will be deeply missed by her family and friends as well as a huge network of medical professionals that worked with her over the course of her life. She traveled from Vermont to North Carolina for a year. She then traveled to Los Angeles which is where she has spent the last few years and met many new friends that she considered to be her extended family.

Erica was blessed with the ability to show others to always smile and fight no matter what type of struggles they were faced with. Her strength was very inspiring to anyone who ever met her. In 2003 and 2004 Erica participated in a 360 mile border to border in 24 hours snow mobile ride from Massachusetts to the Canadian border to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Both years she was the top fundraiser raising approximately $13,000 to help in finding a cure for Cystic Fibrosis.

A celebration of life will be held on Saturday, Jan. 14 starting at noon at the Wagon Wheel Bar & Grill located at 1 Maple Avenue, Chelsea, VT 05038. Flowers may be sent directly to the Wagon Wheel on Saturday between 11 a.m. and 12 noon or donations can be made in Erica’s memory directly to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

A private message of sympathy for the family can be shared at, www.boardwayandcilley.com. The Boardway & Cilley Funeral Home, Chelsea is assisting the family with arrangements