The mother and daughter combination of Lela Hoover Ward and Ruth Ward Farrell worked on piano tutor books as composer and illustrator. The books on which they collaborated are - Jibbidy - F and ACE, Three Bears - a Story for the Very Young, Sugar and Spice (Rhythms and Tunes for Beginners) and Zoo Songs to Play and Sing. Lela Hoover Ward also arranged hymns in the book ‘Hymns for You to Play and Sing’ and composed a piano solo ‘ Birthday Waltz’.
Jibbidy - F and ACE is still in print with the same cover and illustrations throughout. It was first published in 1949. It doesn’t look as if “Three Bears - a Story for the Very Young is still in print however there are used copies available. Sugar And Spice was last reprinted in 2011 and this publication is available as well in used condition. Zoo Songs to Play and Sing was published in 1950.
There appears to be very little information about Lela Hoover Ward on the internet even though the tutor book, Jibbedy - F and ACE is widely advertised for sale. There is a Lela Hoover Ward Scholarship however I cannot find anything out about it. (See below). Lela was born on the 19th March 1888 and her parents, John and Lizzie Hoover lived in Perth South, Ontario, Canada. Her father was German, although he was born in Ontario and he had a marble cutting business employing four men. Lela’s mother was Irish and she as well was born in Ontario. By the time of the 1901 Canadian Census Lela has two sisters, one Eileen aged 8 and the other Ruth aged 4. John Hoover had 12 men working for him in his marble cutting business in 1901. In 1906 Lela’s mother gives birth to a son, John Brock Hoover junior. On the 14th June 1907 Lela’s sister Ruth Cline Hoover dies of bronchi-pneumonia.
In the 1911 Census John Hoover is working as a merchant and all of the family are listed as Dutch with the exception of his wife Elizabeth who is Irish. On the 25th February 1913 Lela G Hoover married Charles H F Ward in Manhattan, New York, USA. I can find evidence of the birth of two daughters to Lela and Charles Ward, Betty (could be named Elizabeth) and Ruth. Ruth is the illustrator of some of Lela’s books. Lela’s sister’s husband dies of the flu on the 2nd February 1920. Charles Ward, an office clerk, dies on the 14th February 1920 in Guelph, Ontario and his cause of death is also the flu with additional heart concerns. In the 1921 Census Lela and her two daughters are living with her parents and her widowed sister. Lela’s daughter Ruth married on the 19th May 1933 to Andrew Farrell in Brooklyn, New York. On the 2 July 1942 Lela travels from Toronto, to the USA. She is listed as a music teacher. She gives Betty’s address as Hamilton, Ontario and Ruth’s address as Norwich, Connecticut. She intends to return to Canada at the beginning of 1943. Lela crosses the border again in 1949. These two trips could be in relation to working on her tutor books with her daughter Ruth as well as visiting her family.
This photo is the property of Bill Morrison, Lela Hoover Ward’s grandson. Lela Hoover Ward is sitting at the right, her sister Eileen on the left, daughter Ruth sitting beside her and Bill’s mother Betty sitting at the front.
On the 26th May 2023 I received an email from Bill Morrison, grandson of Lela Hoover Ward. He has kindly allowed me to add the following information. His mother was Betty (Elizabeth) Ward, Lela’s younger daughter. Lela’s husband, Charles Ward was a manager for an American hotel chain. Lela met him when she was playing in a trio in Banff, Alberta. Betty was born in Detroit.
Lela Hoover Ward studied at the Toronto Conservatory which, at the time, was Canada’s leading music school at the time.
Bill told me that Lela supported her family and then later on herself for 50 years by teaching piano in Guelph, Ontario as well as writing these tutor books. He accompanied his grandmother on her trip to the States in 1949, they visited the Boston Publishing Company followed by a visit to his aunt Ruth, Lela’s older daughter in Connecticut. There was no obituary or memorial service for Lela when she died in 1975; she died at her daughter’s home in California.
The Lela Hoover Ward Scholarship in Woodwind Performance is funded by Bill himself. It is awarded to a deserving student at Brandon University at Brandon, Manitoba. Bill explained that it is in woodwind because he played the bassoon as an amateur in various orchestras.
References
Ancestry.com