Editor’s Note: Tania Ward was diagnosed in March, not July.
Tania Ward, an academic advisor at Eastern and an ACTS Campus Ministry pastor, died of stage four stomach cancer on Dec. 12, 2025.
A celebration of life ceremony was held on Friday in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union’s ballroom.
Tania Ward served at Eastern as an academic advisor since 2019, alongside her husband, Ly’Jerrick Ward, who joined the academic advising team in 2021.
However, the couple began their time at Eastern much before this.
Tania and Ly’Jerrick Ward met at Eastern as students in 2010 through Bishop Andrew Robinson and ACTS Campus Ministry, an organization they later took lead over, Ly’Jerrick Ward said.
The Wards were always close with Robinson and his wife, Wanda Kay Robinson, so much so that Andrew Robinson still remembers Tania Ward coming to him about Ly’Jerrick Ward for the first time.
“It was beautiful because he had eyes for her and nobody else,” Andrew Robinson said. “She said, ‘Ly’Jerrick, this boy Ly’Jerrick, he wants to take me on a date. I think I need to get my degree first to get all that done.’”
At the time, Tania Ward was pursuing a nursing degree before later shifting to become a sociology major.
Andrew Robinson responded to Tania Ward by telling her that God sometimes sends a person in your life that you’re meant to spend the rest of your life with at an inconvenient time.
Not too long after that conversation, Tania and Ly’Jerrick Ward began dating before later getting married on Jan. 5, 2015, in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union’s ballroom.
As Tania and Ly’Jerrick Ward grew closer and walked further together in life, he witnessed firsthand how she evolved as a person.
“She went from being more focused, ‘I’m not open to anything else. I want to get my nursing degree,’ to being more open,” Ly’Jerrick Ward said.
Tania Ward’s open nature allowed for the two to create memorable moments together, like walking around nature or sending him to the Dairy Queen interior to correct a mistaken ice cream order.
This change in Tania Ward’s nature led her to become driven not just in her work, but also in the way she spoke.
“I quickly found out she was very self-motivated and had an eye for developing herself and others and that sometimes her quiet wasn’t because she didn’t have something to say, but because she was going to say it with more impact at the right time,” said Director of Academic Advising Services Danny Gourley Fischer.
This discovery led Gourley Fischer to realize Tania Ward wasn’t afraid to try new things and try to directly solve problems and improve herself at work, rather than just bringing up problems and not actively working on them.
Despite being told by doctors it would be virtually impossible for her to have children at all, Tania Ward had two children.
Tania Ward’s time of active work came to an end when she was diagnosed with cancer last March while pregnant with her second child.
Once her second child was born, Gourley Fischer said Tania Ward didn’t return to work afterwards.
“From our perspective, we thought she was just going to the doctor and she would be back for a little while and then she would have a baby,” Gourley Fischer said. “I just remember crying in a Zoom with her, and she’s telling me [the diagnosis] like I’m telling you this is a box of Kleenex right here, that it’s just this thing.”
As Tania Ward remained home to care for her two boys in her final months, Andrew Robinson and other ACTS Ministry members prayed for her healing.
One day, the prayers for her healing stopped when Andrew felt something shift during a prayer session.
“It was almost like God put something in my spirit, and it was like he was saying, ‘What about what I want?’” he said. “I thought, ‘Oh, God, I didn’t think so much about what you want. I thought you wanted what we want.’”
This moment reminded Andrew Robinson of the story of Enoch in Genesis 5:24 that states, “Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.”
Andrew Robinson said he called Tania Ward shortly after this to tell her what he experienced, and she responded by saying she would pray for the same: to want what God wanted.
Tania Ward died not too long after on Dec. 12, 2025, in a way that those around her described simply as peaceful.
On that day, Wanda Kay Robinson said Tania Ward made her promise that she wouldn’t let go of her hand until Jesus took her. For the rest of the day, the two held hands before a short sigh of final breath was let out.
“Tania said she needed me, but oh my goodness, I needed her. I rejoice today knowing she’s in the presence of Jesus,” said Wanda Kay Robinson, pausing to collect herself before continuing her reflection during the celebration. “But I miss her. How do you put 16 and a half years into a few minutes?”
Terrell Steele, a senior hospitality and tourism major, also found himself missing Tania Ward as she was a source of comfort for him not just in her smile, but in the hugs that she was known to give.
“She was just so positive all the time,” Steele said. “I do miss her, but I know her soul, her presence is here always, and I just want her to know I was fortunate to meet her, and I love her, and I’m going to continue to make her proud.”
On Dec. 16, 2025, Eastern students came together of their own organization to host a candlelight vigil for Tania Ward, which she had planned herself before her death.
The celebration of life on Friday saw upwards of 140 people in attendance consisting of a mix of friends, family, Eastern employees and community members.
The crowd’s attention was laser focused on those presenting, and there was a quiet atmosphere not unlike Tania Ward’s personality all those years ago, save for the occasional jest from those on stage.
At the end of the performance, a video from Tania Ward recorded before her death played, in which she encouraged others to remain positive, though there were sniffles, tears and consolation among those in the crowd.
“I love each and every one of you, and I’m so grateful Jesus has given me a life worth living,” she said in the video.
Luke Brewer can be reached at 581-2812 or at [email protected].
