Rena Ward

Rena was born in Kotzebue, Alaska on March 13, 1960, to Daniel and Easter Henry, Sr. She was the sister to Jack, Bob Sr., Scotty, Daniel Jr., Roderick, Lennie, Paul, Maggie, Richie, Oscar, Duffy, Johnathan, and Lena.

As a young child, Rena was raised in Kotzebue with many neighborhood friends and family to play with. A few of her best oomas were Ruth Nelson and Lucy Jensen.

She received her GED at Chukchi College in 1988. She gave birth to Robert and Johnathan Barker. They were her life and she loved them unconditionally. It was a tragedy when she lost Jo at a young age.

In her lifetime, she was a proud employee of Mark Air, Hanson’s and lastly, Bering Air. She took pride in her work and was dedicated to customer service.

On July 14, 1995, she married the man that she would spend the rest of her life with. She would be called his “BabyDoll.” John was her rock. She loved for John to take her on long drives. She loved his cooking, going on trips, she loved watching the Investigation Discovery Channel, listening to KOTZ gospel music, was a #1 Kotzebue Husky basketball fan, and loved all sorts of butterflies. She was like a second mother to all of her nieces and nephews as she had a special place in her heart to each and every one of them.

Rena and John took in family when needed and made it everyone’s home away from home. She always made sure her parents were taken care of and loved them unconditionally. Any family that came into town from Kotzebue, she would always make sure they had rides and stayed with them to make sure they were very well taken care of.

Her precious smile, her loving ways and beautiful personality will be missed by everyone.