City of San Antonio
Parks & Recreation Department
Joe Ward Community Center
Park History
435 E. Sunshine
Joe Ward Community Center is named for Joe H. Ward, who spent most of his adult life
mentoring San Antonio youth. His civic leadership began in 1948, the YMCA of San Antonio
formed a committee headed by Ward to study building a facility on the far northwest
side of the city.
Ward, an All-Southwest Conference tackle at the University of Texas in 1922, coached
football at San Antonio’s Edison High School from 1931 to 1943 before going to work
at the YMCA. Under Ward’s guidance, the Northwest Branch of the YMCA was chartered in
1951. Property was purchased between McNeel Road and Sunshine Drive, and volunteers
constructed a gymnasium on the site.
For more than 20 years, Ward mentored thousands of young people at the Northwest YMCA,
and was affectionately called "Papa Joe." Joe Ward died in 1975, and three years
later, the YMCA sold its Northwest branch to the City of San Antonio. At the request of
the YMCA and many community leaders, the new public park and community center was named
for "Papa Joe" Ward who had devoted his entire life and career to the youth of
San Antonio. Renovation of Joe Ward Community Center was completed in 2000 using $338,000
in 1994 Park Bond funds.