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Who is Darrell Ward?

Darrell Ward was born on 13 August 1964, in Rock Creek, Montana USA, and was a reality television personality as well as a truck driver, best known for being one of the stars of the television TV series “Ice Road Truckers” until his death in 2012. His passing attracted a lot of attention due to his popularity, and the peculiar nature of his death.

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The Net Worth of Darrell Ward

How rich is Darrell Ward? As of early-2019, sources estimate a net worth that is still at $500,000, earned largely through a successful career on television, and a significant amount from the dangerous nature of the driving he did. All of his achievements ensured the position of his wealth prior to his passing.

Life Before Television

Very little information is known about Darrell’s childhood, his education, and his life before finding popularity on television. It is known that he was born in Rock Creek, but later settled in Deer Lodge, Montana. He found the opportunity to gain solid income through truck driving in the area, mainly specializing in driving seasonal routes during the winters. This speciality would eventually land him a role in the reality TV series “Ice Road Truckers”.

Darrell Ward

Ice Road Truckers

“Ice Road Truckers” began airing in 2007 on the History Channel, the concept beginning as an episode of “Dangerous Missions”, and featuring drivers operating on seasonal routes in the remote Arctic territories of Alaska and Canada, often traversing frozen rivers and lakes during this period. The remote Dalton Highway was also featured during some of its seasons, which mainly consisted of snow-covered solid ground. In recent seasons, coverage has been on the winter roads of Manitoba. They also took inspiration from the book entitled “Denison’s Ice Road”, which is about the dangerous job of driving trucks over frozen bodies of water, often referred to as ice roads in the Northwest Territories of Canada. The show is created by Thom Beers who also produced “Deadliest Catch” which focused on fishing in dangerous waters, and gained a lot of good reviews. A season of “Ice Road Truckers” follows several men over six months, as they travel to haul vital supplies for mines and remote populations.

Show Popularity

The show attracted a huge number of viewers, and critics reviews, leading it to be aired on other networks as well, and in other countries including Britain, the Netherlands, Australia and Canada. It became the most watched original telecast during the 12 years of History Channel at the time. While the show has mentioned real accidents and fatal outcomes, not one of them has ever been featured. Ward started appearing in the show during its sixth season and would return for subsequent series. His last appearance was during the 12th season, before his accident. When he came to the show he had over 30 years of trucking experience, including driving the Dalton Highway, and driving logging trucks in the Rocky Mountains. He became one of the most popular drivers of the show, and many mourned his passing.

Controversies

“Ice Road Truckers” has gained a bit of controversy over its entire run despite the numerous good reviews it has received. The show opening features a truck falling through ice, but was filmed using a miniature model inside a studio. However, rumors started spreading that the entire sequence was staged using a real truck and dynamite, which caused concern among the drivers and some of the fans of the show.

In 2018, one of the companies featured in the show – Polar Industries – was sued for more than $1 million by Manitoba firms. The companies were partnered with Polar, but were not paid by the company after business was done. According to reports, these projects were supposed to have shared expenses and profits but Polar did not fulfill its end of the deal. Defense was later filed by Polar stating that the company had every claim to the unpaid money due to bad business dealings with these said companies.

Posted by Memorial Page for Darrell Ward on Sunday, November 25, 2018

Death

In 2016, reports confirmed that Darrell had died in a plane crash while travelling in a single engine Cessna 182, alongside pilot Mark Melotz, with the duo crashing in Rock Creek, Montana. The duo were said to be trying to attempt to land at a nearby airstrip, having departed an hour earlier from Missoula. An investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board concluded that the cause of the accident was a sudden right turn during an approach to landing. However, the reason for the turn was undetermined, as post-accident investigation did not reveal any anomalies that would have led to straying from normal operations.

Darrell is survived by two children; he was previously married to Gwen Ward but the two divorced in 2012. According to reports, at the time of his death, he was involved in a romantic relationship with a business partner named Lisa Kelly. Numerous fans were shocked by the news of his death, and tributes were paid by them and by the show. His slot was later filled by returning drivers from previous seasons.

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