About Guy Bard

The Honorable Guy K. Bard

Guy Kurtz Bard, teacher, soldier, lawyer, judge and civic leader was the son of Silas E. and Miranda (Kurtz) Bard. He was born in Lincoln, Ephrata Township, October 24, 1895. His early boyhood was spent on a farm in Clay Township, where he attended a rural school. He lived most of his life in the borough of Denver from 1903 to 1947. The last six years he re- sided in a stone farmhouse, built in 1814, about a mile outside of Ephrata.

At a very young age he learned the printing trade and helped in the publishing of his father's newspaper the "Denver Press". He was a graduate of Denver High School, Millersville State Normal School, Franklin and Marshall College and the University of Pennsylvania Law School. In 1947, Franklin and Marshall College bestowed on him the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws.

His career as a teacher began in a rural school at Weaverland. Earl Township. He served as principal of the Warwick Township High School, Lititz, taught mathematics and school management for one term at Millersville State Normal School, and from 1916 to 1918 was supervising principal of the Ephrata schools.

In 1918 he entered the army, serving eleven months, in France, under General Pershing. Bard was a charter member of the Cocalico American Legion Post, Denver, and later served as commander of the post.

After graduating from law school, he began his practice with classmate, Paul Mueller, Esq., at Lancaster and later formed a partnership with Judge W. Hensel Brown. He was a member of the Lancaster County, Pennsylvania State and American Bar Associations and was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of Penna. and the U.S. Federal Court.

His interest in politics began at the age of 16 when his father took him to Baltimore to see the nomination of Woodrow Wilson. As a struggling young lawyer, he attended the New York convention where Al Smith and McAdoo vied. When the heated sessions lasted so long that he ran out of money, he returned home to raise funds so he could return and see it through to the end. He served as Secretary, and later, Chair of the Democratic County Committee. In 1930, the Democratic Party of Pennsylvania nominated Bard as its candidate for Lieutenant Governor. In 1932, as a delegate-at-large to the Chicago convention, he served on the resolutions committee and helped draft the historic platform of Franklin D. Roosevelt. His commissions and appointments continued throughout his life:

• 1934 - Special Assistant U.S. Attorney General

• 1937 - Pa. Public Utility Commission Helped Gov. Earle sign a bill by Ruth Horton, Rep. Lancaster, to procure the Ephrata Cloisters for Pa.

• 1938 - Drafted as State Attorney General

• 1939 - Appointed Federal Judge of Eastern Pennsylvania District by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

• 1952 - Resigned as Judge and became Democratic Party's candidate for U.S. Senate

After his defeat for the U.S. Senate, he became a partner of the law firm of Folz, Bard, Kamsler, Goodis and Greenfield, in Philadelphia. He was fatally stricken, while in his law office, November 23, 1953.

As a public servant, he always found time to answer the appeals of any organization in need of a speaker. For his endeavors in supporting the formation of the Cocalico Union School District, he was honored at the dedication services in 1955 with a bronze plaque list- ing his many accomplishments. Other honors include:

• Millersville University: named men's dormitory - Bard Hall; Oil painting of Bard dedicated.

• Philadelphia Bar Assn.: dedicated oil portrait which hangs in Federal Court Building

• Soroptimist Club, Ephrata: established the Guy K. Bard Scholarship Fund which aids deserving high school students of Ephrata and Cocalico School Districts, who are desirous of obtaining a college education.

• Local Democrats of Northern Lancaster County: renamed their Democratic Club in honor of Guy Kurtz Bard - 1958.

At his furieral in the St. John's Lutheran Church, Denver, the Rev. Harold Minnich, who delivered the eulogy, paid tribute 'to Judge Bard as follows: "He loved his God. his fellowman, and his country — a sincere Christian, an eminent statesman, an honorable jurist, a great American."

The members of the Guy K. Bard Democratic Club are proud to honor Guy Kurtz Bard.