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Alice Ward, 79, the mom and manager of boxing champion Micky Ward and his brother, Dicky Eklund, died Wednesday at a hospital in Boston
The Lowell Sun reported that Mrs. Ward lapsed into a coma and died one day after being taken off life support. She suffered cardiac arrest in January.
Mrs. Ward made national headlines after the 2010 release of the critically acclaimed movie, The Fighter, where her role in her son’s boxing careers was portrayed by actress Melissa Leo. Ms. Leo won an Oscar, Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild award for her performance.
For a time, Mrs. Ward managed her son’s careers in the ring. “She was in there when there weren't any women at all,” Micky Ward told a Lowell, Mass., newspaper. “She was a pioneer of her time.”
Here is a clip of Ms. Leo portraying the tough-as-nails Ward.
Survivors include her nine children; 19 grandchildren; and 19 great-grandchildren.
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