Transcript
Darrell Ward was one of one of the most popular drivers from the History’s reality show, Ice Road Truckers.
Darrell was born on August 13, 1964, in Rock Creek, Montana.
He came from a trucking family as his grandparents ran harvest rigs.
When he joined ‘Ice Road Truckers,’ during the season 6, he had 30 years of experience.
His self-proclaimed adrenaline-junkie attitude quickly made him a fan favorite.
He was also known as a generous person as he would often help fellow truckers in need, even his competitors.
He appeared in the show until season 10 and was set to appear in the season 11.
The legendary trucker tragically died in a plane crash near Rock Creek, Montana on August 28, 2016.
He was returning from the Great American Truck Show in Dallas, Texas when he and his pilot, Mark Melotz met with an accident.
NTSB concluded the cause of the accident to be “sudden right turn on approach to landing for reasons that couldn’t be determined.”
Ward was about to film a documentary style show about the recovery of plane wrecks.
When not driving trucks, he would help local authorities fight forest fires.
He was also an avid outdoors-man, who use to enjoy riding dirt bikes, hunting, fishing, camping and more.
A philanthropic persona, he organized a food drive to help those affected by the 2016 flooding in Louisiana.
He was named the grand marshal for the Truck Convoy for the Special Olympics in Nova Scotia, Canada.
Throughout his life, his motto “Any Road, Any Load” perfectly fitted his personality.
Darrell was married to a woman named Gwen Ward until they got divorced in 2012.
The couple was parents to two children, Reno Ward and Terra Ward. He has two grandchildren.
Darrell’s son is a football enthusiast, who said that his father would love to see him playing.
He is survived by his parents, wife, children, and siblings.
He is no more in this world, but his legacy lives on. His fellow truckers will always miss him as a humorous and generous person.
A Facebook page created in his memory, Memorial Page For Darrell Ward has about 60k likes and 59k followers.
Rest in peace Darrell.