HARWARD, Gregory Wayne 1955 - 1994

HARWARD, COLEMAN, ELSEMAN

Posted By: Joey Stark
Date: 5/12/2024 at 15:20:34

"The Fairfield Ledger"
Monday, June 6, 1994
Front Page, Column 1

Lockridge man kills himself after chase

By Bill Draper
Ledger news editor

BURLINGTON -- A Lockridge man awaiting trial for four counts of third-degree sexual abuse in Jefferson County killed himself Sunday in Burlington after a short police chase.

Gregory Wayne HARWARD, 39, died at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City after he shot himself in a Burlington parking lot.

The incident began when a Gulfport Ill., town marshall stopped the car in which he was a passenger for speeding Sunday morning. As the car's driver, 29-year-old Lorinda Manning of Mount Pleasant, was speaking with the marshal at the rear of the vehicle, HARWARD moved to the driver's side of the car and sped away.

Burlington police joined the chase after HARWARD crossed into Iowa. He then pulled the 1994 Chevrolet Camaro into a parking lot, where he shot himself.

HARWARD recently had been sentenced to 363 days in jail, with all but 30 days suspended, after he pleaded guilty in Jefferson County to domestic abuse without intent to cause serious injury. Another domestic abuse charge was pending.

He also was awaiting trial for four counts of third-degree sexual abuse for allegedly abusing a 14-year-old Jefferson County girl in 1992.

Funeral arrangements for HARWARD are pending at Pedrick Funeral Home in Keosauqua.

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"The Fairfield Ledger"
Monday, June 6, 1994
Page 12, Columns 1 and 2

Greg HARWARD

LOCKRIDGE -- Greg HARWARD, 39, of Lockridge, died Sunday, June 5, 1994, at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City (note: in Johnson Co., IA).

Arrangements are pending at Pedrick Funeral Home in Keosauqua.

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"The Fairfield Ledger"
Tuesday, June 7, 1994
Page 5, Columns 2 and 3

Gregory W. HARWARD

LOCKRIDGE -- The service for Gregory W. HARWARD, 38, of Lockridge, who died Sunday, June 5, 1994, at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City, will be at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at Pedrick Funeral Home in Keosauqua with the Rev. Jerry Caughron officiating. Burial will be in Evergreen Cemetery at Fairfield. Visitation is open at the funeral home with the family present from 7 to 8 tonight. Memorials may be left at the funeral home.

HARWARD was born July 16, 1955, in Keosauqua, the son of Russell and Mary COLEMAN HARWARD. He graduated from Fairfield High School and was a partner in Harward and Sons Freight Co. in Fairfield.

Surviving are a son, Jason of Readlyn; his parents of Hot Springs, Ark.; two brothers, Roger and Scott HARWARD, both of Fairfield; and a sister, Kelly ELSEMAN of Washington, Iowa.

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"The Fairfield Ledger"
Friday, June 17, 1994
Page 8, Column 2

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT OF ADMINISTRATOR AND NOTICE TO CREDITORS
PROBATE NO. P4252-0094(?)

THE IOWA DISTRICT COURT IN JEFFERSON COUNTY

IN THE ESTATE OF GREGORY WAYNE HARWARD, DECEASED:

TO ALL PERSONS INTERESTED IN THE ESTATE OF GREGORY WAYNE HARWARD, DECEASED, WHO DIED ON OR ABOUT JUNE 5, 1994:

YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED THAT ON THE 10TH DAY OF JUNE, 1994, THE UNDERSIGNED WAS APPOINTED ADMINISTRATOR OF THE ESTATE.

NOTICE IS HEREBY THAT ALL PERSONS INDEBTED TO THE ESTATE ARE REQUESTED TO MAKE IMMEDIATE PAYMENT TO THE UNDERSIGNED, AND CREDITORS HAVING CLAIMS AGAINST THE ESTATE SHALL FILE THEM WITH THE CLERK OF THE ABOVE NAMED DISTRICT COURT, AS PROVIDED BY LAW, DULY AUTHENTICATED, FOR ALLOWANCE, AND UNLESS SO FILED BY THE LATER TO OCCUR OF FOUR MONTHS FROM THE SECOND PUBLICATION OF THIS NOTICE OR ONE MONTH FROM THE DATE OF THE MAILING OF THIS NOTICE (UNLESS OTHERWISE ALLOWED OR PAID) A CLAIM SHALL THEREAFTER BE FOREVER BARRED.

DATED THIS 10TH DAY OF JUNE, 1994.

ROGER L. HARWARD
R.R. 1
FAIRFIELD, IA 52556

SCOTT W. HARWARD
2506 W. BURLINGTON
FAIRFIELD, IA 52556

ADMINISTRATOR OF THE ESTATE

CRAIG R. FOSS
ATTORNEY FOR THE ADMINISTRATOR

FOSS, KUIKEN & GOOKIN, P.C.
P. O. BOX 30
FAIRFIELD, IA 52556

DATE OF SECOND PUBLICATION
24TH DAY OF JUNE, 1994.
June 17, 24, 1994

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"The Fairfield Ledger"
Thursday, June 23, 1994
Page 4, Columns 2, 3, and 4

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

The Greg HARWARD we knew was different

To the editor:

We, the friends of Greg HARWARD, would like to take this opportunity to help set the story straight about the man we knew.

We do not want people to automatically associate Greg with the last paragraph on the front page of the Ledger, to remember him only by the alleged charges that were pending against him.

Greg, or Lennie, as we called him, was one of our closest friends and had been for years. Each of us at some point in our lives -- some of us more than once -- confided in him, looked to him for support and always looked to him for honest real friendship. Lennie was his own personal comedian. He always had a story to tell that would keep us in stitches for hours on end. As people he had chosen to befriend, we all knew that he would go to the ends of the earth for us.

We have all watched our friend over the past 15-plus years help build the Harward & Sons freight company - watched him suffer at the low points in his life, and watched him shine when he talked about his son Jason, whom he loved very much.

As one of his female friends, I watched him with my own children. Always gentle, tolerant and loving. If these charges that were brought against him were in any way true, wouldn't I, the mother of two small children, have known there was something wrong with the relationship between him and those children?

Why would those two children to this day love him as if he were another uncle? No, we do not believe these things that have been reported about Lennie, nor do those two children. Lennie, Greg HARWARD, was a lot of things, but he was not some sort of deviant.

All of us knew that Greg was not going to go to jail for something he did not do - he told all of us that. Our biggest regret is that we were not given the opportunity to "go to bat" for him as he would have done for us. To help him out of this tragic situation. It tears at our hearts to think that a person, our friend, could have so little faith in our justice system that the only alternative he had other than going to jail was to take his own life.

Now, the tragedy is that we will never be able to look to Greg, our friend Lennie, for another story, another good time, another answer or just companionship. His son will never be able to do those things, either.

We, his friends who loved him, simply want everyone that hears his name to know that our friend Lennie - Greg HARWARD - was a decent, hardworking, hard playing, loving person that would never have done the terrible things he had been accused of. We want to tell this, because Greg will not have the chance to set the story straight himself.

We always loved and believed in you, Greg. We will truly miss you. We hope that somehow you know this, and can rest in peace.

Your friends:
Bob and Shiela Gerleman
Chad Heisel
Charity Heisel
Larry and Terry Diers
Randy and Terri Smith
Jerry and Rose Schillerstrom
Dan and Carolyn Schlicher
Jeff and Sheila Drish

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*Transcribed for genealogy purposes; I have no relation to the person(s) mentioned.

Note: Buried in Lot 5th.056.