Tom Ward has turned green. A veteran Park City area Realtor, he became Utah’s first certified ecobroker in 2006. Since then he’s become a tireless advocate for environmentally friendly and fuel-efficient homes and businesses in the Park City area. Ask him about cellulose insulation, sun tubes, dual-flush toilets, solar panels or energy-efficient lights and you might as well pull up a chair. For those who know him well, his passion for the environment and efficiency comes as no surprise.
Ward was born in Jamaica, N.Y. in 1953, the second of Walter and Marilyn Ward’s eight children. His love of the outdoors and open spaces took root early. While he was growing up, the super-sized family lived in Massapequa on Long Island, minutes away from Atlantic Ocean beaches.
He remembers endless summers playing with his friends along Massapequa Creek and in the Tackapausha Preserve, a 425-acre undeveloped expanse of woodlands, wetlands and ponds just two blocks from his back door.
“Camping trips were real adventures,” says Ward. “All ten of us would cram into the family station wagon, towing a tent trailer. We’d rent canoes or rowboats and try to catch fish.”
Ward attended St. William the Abbott and Holy Trinity High School near Massapequa. He began working part-time at McDonald’s at age 15 and, eschewing college, entered the company’s management training program after graduation.
He worked at McDonald’s through 1977, when he ventured into the deli business. He sold his coveted Corvette for $5,000 and borrowed $25,000 from his father to buy Weinisch’s Deli on Long Island. “My dad refinanced his house to get the money,” he recalls. “He had a lot of faith in me; it was a pretty special thing for him to do.”
“My dad and all my brothers and sisters worked for me at one time or another,” Ward chuckles. His McDonald’s training was great background for running a fast-paced operation. “I changed the name to ‘Wards Delicatessen’ and took it from about $300,000 gross income annually to over $1 million. He credits his success to an eye for efficiency and his authentic German-style dishes, soups and salads. “We made every recipe from scratch. I’m proud to say that it’s still called Ward’s Deli to this day.”
Ward was introduced to skiing in the 10th grade. “I joined the ski club and learned to ski in the Catskills at Holiday Mountain and Big Vanilla. “It was magic! I loved it then and I still do,” he says. He discovered Park City in 1981 when he came out with friends for a ski vacation. “I skied at a new resort called Deer Valley, which was only about a month old at the time.”
Looking for new adventures, Ward sold the business in 1987 and moved to Park City. A man of relative leisure after the sale, he skied or played golf during the day and worked as a bartender at night. He poured drinks at Sneakers Club, then a popular watering hole upstairs at the Racquet Club.
“Working at Sneakers was a great way to get to know people in town,” he says. It was there that he met Layla, his wife-to-be. “She was cocktailing and she was very pretty,” he shares shyly. Ward was smitten. “She enjoyed skiing and hiking and other outdoor sports like me. We married in 1992 and settled in Park Meadows.” After more than a dozen years there, they relocated to a home in Prospector Park. They have two daughters: Alice, age 11 and Eliza 9.
Ward began exploring new career opportunities not long after he married. “In 1994 Jess Reid, who I knew from Sneakers, suggested I consider selling real estate. The timing was right and I haven’t looked back.” Ward has worked at Jess Reid Real Estate ever since, where he’s been a perennial top producer and won a number of awards, including Park City’s Realtor of the Year award.
In 2000, Ward founded the Environmental Issues Committee for the Park City Board of Realtors. “After Summit County passed the first water concurrency ordinance and, in the grip of a drought cycle, I saw an urgent need for the real estate community to know more about water issues as they related to growth and development in the area.” he explains.
Those first steps led Ward to an ever-increasing involvement in Summit County environmental issues. “As an ecobroker, I’m positioned in front of a major shift taking place in the real estate industry,” he predicts. “For example, increasing home-energy efficiency helps the environment, saves homeowners money and boosts property values.”
Ward says he’s gone green for the long haul. He has a strong sense of responsibility to help shape the future. “I’m concerned that the planet our kids and grandkids inherit is going to be in trouble unless we start making dramatic changes. We can’t live like there are unlimited resources because there aren’t, like our actions don’t impact the future because they do.”
Ward remains very content with his Park City lifestyle, but he has made some dramatic changes. He drives a hybrid car and, during a recent remodel of his home, installed several energy-efficient systems. He most enjoys the daily savings from solar hot water. He’s working in his own quiet way to help make Park City a more sustainable community.
He puts it this way: “For me, sustainability means meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. We have a window of opportunity and everyone can do something today to start making a difference.”
VITAL STATISTICS
Age 54, married, two children
Favorite things: skiing, mountain biking, free concerts
Favorite foods: “Anything my wife cooks. She makes some amazing dishes.”
Favorite author: Edward Abbey
Favorite music: “I have a record collection from the ’70s. My girls grew up listening to
classic vinyl LPs.”
Pets: “Stella, the escape dog. She’s five, has a very loud bark, and loves everyone.”