OVARD, JOHN DAVID (1943 ~ 2019). The following is an obituary for John Ovard, former First Administrative Judicial District judge in the Dallas area. The obituary was published in the Dallas Morning News in 2019.

OVARD, John David - John David Ovard, our beloved Father, passed in peace on August 25, 2019. Our family gives thanks to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for blessing us with the life of our Father and Grandfather who has joined his beloved wife, Jeannie Ovard, who has been waiting for him with their Heavenly Father.

Active memberships, amongst others, include Zion Lutheran Church, the Dallas Bar Association and Texas State Bar Association. Throughout his life, Dad was a world traveler, a jokester and a volunteer including ministering to others, visiting hospital patients and their families and constantly supporting, and working for, the adoption of foster children. Dad served as a State District Court Judge, a Justice on the Fifth District Court of Appeals and the Presiding Judge of the First Administrative Judicial District.

Dad is survived by his children, Wendi Ovard Schlarb, David Ovard, Kirsten Castaneda, Tracey Huffman, Sara Castaneda; sons-in-law Erich Schlarb and Kevin Cottle, daughter-in-law Wren Ovard; 7 grandchildren; sister-in-law Marlene Ovard of Quitman, TX; aunt, Juanita Schadde of Baraboo, WI, many nieces and nephews, and an innumerable volume of friends.

Memorial services will be 1:00 PM, Friday, August 30, 2019 at Zion Lutheran Church, 6121 East Lovers Lane, Dallas, TX 75214 with a celebration of his life immediately following at the Belo Mansion, 2101 Ross Avenue, Dallas, TX 75201. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to Zion Lutheran Church or the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, 8140 Walnut Hill Lane, Suite 810, Dallas, TX 75231.