Celebration of Life: Ward Atkinson
Ward James Atkinson passed away on August 15, 2024, in Scottsdale, Arizona. He was born September 4, 1930 in Detroit, Michigan to Whitney Putnam Atkinson and Myrtle Ward Atkinson.
An inventor, problem solver and entrepreneur at heart, Ward loved cars and technology from an early age. He received his first car – a pedal car – at 11 months old, graduating to a Cadillac at age 16. Over his nearly 94 years Ward owned dozens of vehicles. His favorites to drive were the Chevrolet Caprice and Impala.
As a boy he helped out in his father’s store, Atkinson’s Men’s Shop located in the Eaton Tower on Woodward Avenue in downtown Detroit. The practice of wrapping customers purchases in paper was a skill he acquired at a young age. This skill was later useful when wrapping Christmas presents. As the child of a clothier, Ward was always nattily dressed whether it was in knickers as a small boy, stylish trousers in the 1940s and 1950s, or custom-tailored sports coats in the 1960s. He took great pride in his appearance.
Ward Atkinson’s Career
After attending Cass Technical High School, in 1947 he and his good friend Bill Scripps opened the first Philco television store in downtown Detroit. His love affair with televisions was never-waning. His family enjoyed one of the first color sets during the late 1950’s and Ward throughout his lifetime always had multiple sets – at least four – up until he moved from his home in 2023.
Ward worked at the Cadillac Cleveland Tank plant from 1950 to 1952. Drafted in the Army in 1952 during the Korean War, he spent two years with the ordnance corps at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland receiving the National Defense Service Medal. In 1954 his mentor Edward N. Cole hired Ward at Chevrolet and he began his career as an automotive HVAC engineer. He was most proud of his role in the first front-mounted air conditioning system on the 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air. Ward held patents for numerous devices and designs that are still the industry standard today including ball-shaped dashboard vent outlets, the orifice tube, flow through body ventilation, motor vehicle body ventilation, the moisture barrier hose.
Ward retired from Chevrolet and moved to Phoenix in 1981, but remained active in the automotive HVAC industry. He founded his consulting firm, Sun Test Engineering, working with automotive manufacturers around the world. One of his major projects was the acquisition and establishment of a testing facility in Stanfield, Arizona for Calsonic (a division of Nissan), now the Arizona Testing Center
Ward Atkinson’s Service
A member of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) for more than 70 years, he spent more than 60 years as a member of the SAE Interior Climate Control Standards Committee (ICCSC), serving as Chair of the Committee for more than 30 years. It was during his tenure as chair of the ICCSC that the industry underwent the first refrigerant transition from R-12 to R-134a as a result of the Montreal Protocol.
Ward became involved with the Mobile Air Conditioning Society (MACS) serving as a technical adviser until 2022. He was a favorite keynote speaker and panel participant at the annual MACS conventions. In 2008, he authored the book From Montreal to Kyoto: Two Decades of Change in the Mobile A/C Industry.
For his contributions to the original Montreal Protocol and Clean Air Act Amendments, he was recognized in 1990 by the Environmental Protection Agency as one of the “Champions of the World” with one of the first Stratospheric Ozone Protection Awards. In 1997, Ward received the EPA’s Best-of-the-Best Stratospheric Zone Protection Award.
As a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Ward was a recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for the IPCC’s work to increase knowledge about human-caused climate change, establish the basis for actions to counter climate change and raise public awareness of the climate crisis.
Ward Atkinson’s Legacy
Throughout his life, Ward continued with various entrepreneurial activities. In the mid-1950s at the birth of rock and roll, Joan and Ward owned a record store. In 1961, he purchased radio station KEPI in Phoenix, Arizona. Then In 1964, after constructing a transmitter tower on South Mountain, the station was relaunched as KMEO 96.9, or Cameo, the first FM stereo station in Phoenix. Ward opened the first discotheque in Farmington, Michigan. The Inner Change Restaurant and S.O.B. (Son of the Boss) Room was a popular venue during the mid-1970’s. In 1980, he opened The Car Repair Company, an eight-bay automotive repair facility in Scottsdale which continues in business today.
Ward met his wife Joan in 1954 when they were both members of the Detroit Hikers Club. They married in 1955 and had three children. Ward was predeceased by his parents, his wife Joan and daughter Julie. He is survived by his daughter Janet, son James, four grandsons, and two great grandchildren.
Ward Atkinson’s Life Celebration
A celebration of life will be held Saturday, November 16, 2024 at 11 am at The Scottsdale House, 4800 N. 68th Street, Scottsdale, Arizona 85251. The celebration will be simulcast on Virtual Memorial Gatherings. To RSVP go to https://virtualmemorialgatherings.com/ward-atkinson/
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the scholarship established in Ward’s name through SAE Foundation to promote STEM education www.saefoundation.org.
