Ward S. Motts, pioneering hydrogeologist and emeritus professor of geology at UMASS Amherst, died peacefully aged 95 at the Hospice of the Fisher Home in Amherst, MA. Born in Cleveland, October 31, 1924, to German-American salesman Howard E. and Norwegian immigrant and award-winning painter Alicia Sundt Motts, he grew up with a love of baseball. An early thrill was meeting Babe Ruth in 1934. The following year he traveled with his mother to London and saw King George V during his silver jubilee. Ward was exposed to fine art and literature from early childhood, interests that never left him. At 17, tragedy struck. Within three months he lost his father, his grandmother, and the US plunged into WWII. He went to night school and worked to support himself and his mother. Later that fall when his mother left for New York after losing their home, he stayed in Cleveland and graduated on time from Lakewood High School in 1943. Despite such hardships he was accepted into Columbia University in 1944.

In summer of 1945 Ward was drafted into the army and before his basic training, the war ended. He was assigned to the 977 Signal Corps and sent to Livorno (Leghorn), Italy with the occupation force to create order in a ravaged and desperate country. Returning home in the winter of 1947, he graduated from Columbia (under University President Dwight D. Eisenhower) in 1949. While in the Army he became attracted to the field of geology. In 1951 he earned his Master’s degree from the University of Minnesota and married Dona Mae Drumm immediately thereafter; together they embarked on a journey that would span 68 years. They moved to California where he was an engineering geologist for the Bureau of Reclamation for two years. He then secured a job as a groundwater geologist with the US Geological Survey in New Mexico, where he discovered the beauty and challenges of desert geology. He mapped the Carlsbad Quadrangle, published by the USGS, one of his greatest accomplishments.

After earning his Ph.D from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 1957, Ward, with Dona and baby son Paul, moved back to New Mexico where he continued work with the Survey. He and his young family lived in Roswell and Albuquerque, where daughter Greta was born. In 1960 Ward taught groundwater at the University of Oklahoma, Norman and worked at the Oklahoma Geological Survey. The following year he was hired as associate professor of geology at UMASS. During his 34-year tenure he pioneered the hydrogeology program, directly supervised 35 graduate theses and brought in almost $1.8 million in today’s dollars in research grants for the University. Ward worked tirelessly to preserve water quality in over 70 towns in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and elsewhere. He was an authority on playa geology, wrote what is considered to be an authoritative book on playa geology, and was considered a preeminent hydrogeologist in the eastern United States. Sought after by corporate titans, congressmen, and farmers, his professionalism never wavered; he treated everyone with compassion. He fought for safe drinking water through aquifer and recharge area protection, and established and chaired the Aquifer Protection Committee in Amherst.

After retirement in 1995, Ward’s thirst for learning continued unabated. He and Dona attended Five College Learning in Retirement. They traveled to visit their children and grandchildren; viewed two solar eclipses in West Africa and the Caribbean; and attended Columbia reunions. His passion for art, music, and environmental conservation influenced both children: Paul, as a natural history specialist with the National Park Service, and Greta in music. Ward’s love of family history wove through his entire life; Motts family reunions were eagerly anticipated. A humble and often unsung hero in the world of hydrogeology, his towering achievements and honesty, integrity and compassion have earned him admiration from colleagues around the world.

Ward is predeceased by his nephew Douglas Drumm. He leaves his wife Dona, children Paul (Gretchen) and Greta Motts Birkby (Dana), nephew David Drumm, and niece Mary Frances Sikora, two grandchildren and one great-grandchild. The patriarch of the Motts and Sundt clans, he also leaves close to 200 cousins spanning four generations. Condolences through Douglass Funeral Home. Remembrances to the Kestrel Trust of Amherst, MA.