An advocate on many fronts

Marian Snyder Ware, 91, formerly of Oxford, an advocate for the elderly, for the advancement of women, and for land preservation, died of pneumonia Feb. 15 at her daughter Marilyn's home in Strasburg, Lancaster County.

In 2004, she donated $6 million to the University of Pennsylvania to establish the Marian S. Ware Alzheimer Program, an initiative between Penn's Schools of Medicine and Nursing that advances drug discoveries, clinical research and patient care related to Alzheimer's disease. The program permits researchers, clinicians and nurses to coordinate the complex needs of patients and their families.

Mrs. Ware had friends and relatives who suffered from dementia, and with the dramatic growth in the elderly population, she wanted to address the problem, her daughter said.

In 1999, Mrs. Ware had established a professorship in Alzheimer's research at Penn named for her husband, John H. Ware III, a Wharton School graduate who died in 1997. She also quietly provided money to educate dozens of young women who became nurse's aides, nurses and physicians, her daughter said.

Born in Titusville, Pa., Mrs. Ware grew up in Lansdowne. She earned a bachelor's degree from Swarthmore College, where she was a member of the swim and field hockey teams. She remained an active Swarthmore alum.

After graduating from Swarthmore, Mrs. Ware assisted her father, an osteopathic physician, in his office in Philadelphia.

She and her husband married in 1940. They had met when he dated her older sister, Elizabeth. The Wares lived most of their married life in Oxford before moving to Strasburg in the late 1980s.

John Ware was chairman and a member of the board of American Water Works, which his father founded. Mrs. Ware also served on the board. The company is the largest investor-owned water company in the United States. John Ware, a Republican, served nine years in the Pennsylvania Senate and from 1970 to 1975 in the U.S. House.

While their children were growing up, Mrs. Ware was a Cub Scout den mother and a Girl Scout leader. She remained involved in scouting and in 1995 received an achievement award from the Girl Scouts of Freedom Valley Council. She organized a Red Cross Blood Drive in Oxford and was a member of the Oxford Presbyterian Church. She supported farmland preservation in Lancaster and Chester Counties and the preservation of endangered species, her daughter said.

An adventurous traveler, Mrs. Ware toured throughout Europe and went on two African safaris. For her 60th birthday, she rafted down the Colorado River. She laughed easily and had a sense of the absurd, her daughter said.

In addition to her daughter, Marilyn Ware, who is U.S. ambassador to Finland, Mrs. Ware is survived by sons John IV and Paul; daughter Carol Gates; 12 grandchildren; and 13 great-grandchildren.

A celebration of Mrs. Ware's life will be held in May.

Memorial donations may be made to the Council for Relationships, 4025 Chestnut St., Philadelphia 19104.