When I first met Craig Ward in the early 2000s, I had no idea how much impact he would have on my life. In fact, our first encounter had quite the opposite effect on me. We were like two guys who get into a fist fight. After playing a game of pool volleyball with him at an MDNA convention, I thought he was an obnoxious jerk. Which just goes to show how wrong first impressions can be.
As we came to know each other better through MDNA, our relationship—and my respect for Craig—grew. Craig was the ultimate athlete. In fact, he still holds the track and field record at his high school for high hurdles. So I’m sure when he was diagnosed with leukemia in 2008, it was a shock. Battling through invasive treatments changed his life.
Of course, the stem cell transplant took its toll on Craig’s body, but he actually grew more spiritually fit through his agony. What impressed me most about Craig’s cancer journey was that he never got angry with God. Yes, he was stripped of a lot of things, but he became a better man as a result. During that time, my esteem for Craig continued to grow, changing from respect to admiration.
Several years later, when I was diagnosed with testicular cancer, Craig was my main guy. Not only could he relate to everything I was experiencing; he also knew how to encourage me and challenge me at the same time. “Turn your will over to God,” he said, “or you’ll continue down this path of struggle.”
It was a message I needed to hear, because my relationship with God had always been terrible, and I kept trying to spend money to make myself feel better. I even bought my current home with the hopes that fixing it up would give me a new focus.
The only problem was that my body couldn’t do a thing. One result of my cancer treatment was that I couldn’t stand on a ladder or hold a screwdriver. It was Craig who got me back on the right path. He told me that worldly possessions will never make you feel better, and he was right.
Through our friendship, I saw my relationship with God restored. He even included me in a group text with Terry Yoder, Bob Yeoman, and himself, and it was awesome. We were just a group of dudes trying to make it in business, family, and faith.
As the president of MDNA, Craig told us that he wanted his entire leadership model to be about inclusiveness. He encouraged the officers to mingle, to sit at a table with people they didn’t know. He worked hard to get us away from a fraternity mindset, and today, we’re stronger than we’ve ever been, thanks in part to Craig.
It’s been almost a year since Craig passed away from esophageal cancer. I have come to the place in my life where I understand that this life isn’t forever, that people get sick and leave us. But the relationships they have built with us can make a lasting impact, and Craig certainly had that effect on hundreds of lives.
Craig’s funeral was held in the high school basketball gymnasium in the town where he grew up outside of Detroit. Hundreds of people came to pay their respects, which doesn’t happen where I’m from. In that small town, the whole freaking town showed up. People who were around him daily said things like, “Craig got me on the right track.” “He helped restore my faith in God.” “I’m indebted to him for my success.”
As for me, Craig taught me how to look for the positive things in life. One of those things is my home gym. I built this space as a way to honor Craig’s impact on my life. We named it the Ward Wheeler Gym, and I think it’s the perfect way to honor the memory of a friend who changed my life. Thank you, Craig, for a life well lived.
