In Loving Memory of
Ward James Atkinson
September 4, 1930 – August 15, 2024
Celebration of Life In Person and Online
Saturday, November 16, 2024
11:00 AM MST
The Scottsdale House
4800 N. 68th Street
Scottsdale, AZ 85251
Watch a Video Recording
A video recording is available below.
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- Please consider signing our guest book below to acknowledge your presence in support of the family.
Recording of Celebration of Life
Ward James Atkinson Obituary
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 but 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 and 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 or stylish trousers in the 1940s and 1950s or custom-tailored sports coats in the 1960s. He took great pride in his appearance.
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
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.
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. 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.
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. 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.
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I met Ward the first time in 1988 at the Embassy Suites in Scottsdale. We talked about the design of service valves on AC-systems. He then made me join the so called ad-hoc committe for R-134a service valves. The rest is history. To me Ward is the perfect icon for Mobile Air-Conditioning.
Hans Fernqvist
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My family lived next door to Ward in Paradise Valley, AZ. We grew fond of him and have many great memories of him. We will miss him.
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I thoroughly enjoyed knowing Ward, first as my patient and later as a friend with a common interest in cars. But a discotheque owner and a Nobel Peace Prize? I never knew.
I once told Ward that I own a 1929 Ford Model A that shares a September 4 birthday with him. In early 2021, I was having difficulty finding historical information about a rare automotive supercharger I had put on the car. The blower had been made in Turin, Italy in the late 1940’s. Who else but Ward could immediately put me in touch with a contact, Roberto Monforte, who actually lived in Turin and could provide me with the info I needed, including photos of the factory site.
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I met Ward while I was working for the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality on the phase out of R-12 as an automotive a/c refrigerant. I also took my vehicle to The Car Repair Company – located behind Zorba’s…um…book store – for service where I met Joan in his tiny walk up office and son, James, in the service bays.
Ward was always kind and generous with his time and guidance. He reached out to me when I was just starting to understand what was going on in a state that was openly defiant in the face of stratospheric ozone depletion and other minor items like the Montreal Protocol and Clean Air Act.
Ward would be pleased to know that I finally converted my 1987 Mitsubishi Montero to R-134a when it was only 32 years old. $80/lb R-12 was only part of the motivation.
He was a gem of man who left the world in a better place than he found it.
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Ward was one of the great ones. We would meet for lunch and I felt like I had been to the best seminar in the world. I always enjoyed our talks and always learned from him, whether it was about cars, air conditioning, world events or a million other subjects. Ward never stopped learning and never failed to amaze me with some bit of knowledge. More than everything, he was a wonderful person and a great friend. I will miss him.
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I attended my first MACS training event and trade show back in 1988 and met Ward at that time. Through our relationship with MACS, and the many roles each of us held within the organization; Ward was a guiding light, friend and mentor. It was always enlightening, comforting and educational to meet up with Ward at each one of the annual events. His wealth of knowledge about our industry and his ability to communicate and educate us on the various idiosyncrasies throughout the numerous changes we have endured over the last 35 years is a testament to the man that Ward was. He will be dearly missed in this industry, and by hundreds of us that looked up to him. So sorry for the family’s loss. RIP Ward. Sincerely Andy Fiffick. MACS Chairman of the Board & friend.
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On behalf of all Ward’s many SAE friends, I extend our deepest condolences. He will be sincerely missed, and never forgotten.
I nominated Ward to the 2020 Contributor of the Year Class. It was a great opportunity recognize just a few of his recent contributions to the SAE mission to advance mobility knowledge and solutions for the benefit of humanity plus his work through the SAE Foundation and SAE A World In Motion® (AWIM®) program to ignite STEM potential in future generations.
Sharing here a few snippets from the 2020 award nomination I submitted. They only scratch the surface with trying to capture Ward’s passion and the life-changing impact of his many contributions through SAE over the years.
Ward has contributed to SAE standards development for 30+ years and was a key contributor/influencer to facilitate SAE-MACS collaboration. Specifically, his work during the last 12 months resulted in positive outcomes that support staff efforts to build relationships on multiple fronts driving increased awareness, engagement and growth to deliver on the SAE mission.
Ward actively demonstrates a true spirit volunteerism as one who freely offers to take part in an enterprise or undertake a task. His attention to detail and resolute commitment as well as his enthusiasm to pursue potential opportunities to support growth are a shining example and inspiration to others.
The link is a story we published about the collaboration between MACS and SAE to address the shortage of qualified technicians. It includes a link to an Automotive Service Association (ASA) podcast that Ward did with Elvis Hoffpauier, President of MACS for that aired in March 2020 celebrating MACS 40th Anniversary. https://www.saefoundation.org/2020/04/macs-and-sae-partner-to-address-the-shortage-of-qualified-technicians/
Celebrating a life well-lived. Mourning the loss of a friend.
In Deepest Sympathy,
Joy Lancaster
Corporate Development Officer, SAE Foundation
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Hi Jim,
So sorry about the loss of your father.
May he rest in peace.
Bob Robinson
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Ward was a wonderful man who really meant a lot to his daughter in law. He will be deeply missed by all
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Ward Atkinson will always be remembered as a, ‘legendary global figure’ in the world of Mobile Air Conditioning (MAC). His practical knowledge on how vehicle engineering impacts all critical aspects of air conditioner performance has helped many a thermal systems engineer in the OEMs to develop best in class air conditioning systems. His leadership in transitioning MACs from CFC based refrigerants to HFC’s, across all regions of the world has gone down in history books. It will serve as a beacon that lights up the way forward, in our continued search for alternate, low GWP, environment friendly refrigerant options. His eagerness to engage with young engineers and share his experience and learnings, is what distinguishes him from other professionals in the domain and something that many like me have benefitted from. He will be remembered for his passion and missed too. Om Shanti.
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After witnessing the MVAC industry for 26 years, I have no hesitation in saying Ward was a GIANT in his field. One of my first memories after coming to MACS was having one of our proctor trainers come to the “new office” to visit. Topper Nurrenbrock must have certified thousands of automotive technicians and was a highly regarded trainer. He told me the reason he was involved with MACS was because “how else was he going to talk to an engineer like Ward Atkinson about the why and how of A/C service?” Ward was an invaluable resource to the MACS organization and we will miss him dearly. I also loved to see him smile, he was a great man. Peace and love to Jim and Janet and all the family.
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Ward was amazingly full of energy and dedication. I was always amazed at the projects he would undertake around the house in addition to the countless SAE conference calls and documents. He was great at maintaining relationships with a wide variety of people from around the world. He was a great inspiration and mentor and a good friend.
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Ward was my outstanding boss at GM for 21 years, and great personal friend for 63 years. He will be missed.