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38 maconmagazine.com | April/May 2024 BELOW From left to right, Del Ward, Angel Irving, and Doris Martin. Photo courtesy of Irving. force. According to her daughter, she was a Georgia ambassador and even chaperoned Miss Georgia to the Rose Bowl Parade in California — a trip that included dinner at legendary female CBS Sports announcer Phyllis George's home. Warren said her mother, Delores Ward Napier, cared deeply about Macon and used her show to highlight people and aspects of the city that made viewers proud and adoring fans. "Everywhere we went people knew my mom. Everybody considered her their friend," Warren revealed. After retiring in 1997 from WMAZ, Ward turned her full attention to her family, which she so loved and adored. Her job as the host of "Date with Del" was one she loved, and time well spent, Ward told her daughter more than once. Her cutting-edge period of working on the go and hosting everyday folks as well as those in high places was over. Ward lived until 1994 before transitioning at the age of 91. And for those that watched her sign off during her shows, it was her final way of saying "Trody Tro." ALL ABOUT ANGEL "If you want a better community, you have to make it so." Angel Irving, the first Black host on Central Georgia television, recalls her father often saying those words. Her father's wisdom, combined with her mother's passion for service, have guided her life, including her professional climb to WMAZ-TV on-air personality. Because Irving is remembered as such a force in media, it's hard to believe that following her graduation from Talladega College in 1970, television was not the goal of the Macon-born and Eastside- reared 75-year-old. Irving majored in sociology and intended on working in that, or a related, field. Irving grew up rooted in community activism in the form of Civil Rights protests. As a teen she was under the tutelage of a neighborhood elder, who taught and guided her activism. Irving even worked as Community Organizer for Urban League in Birmingham, Alabama, before returning to Macon. "What I've always been attracted to is helping my people," she shared. Everything changed however at an organizational meeting concerning Sickle Cell Anemia she was attending at Macon State College (now Middle Georgia State University) in the early '70s. WMAZ-TV news reporter Ken Hill was pointed her way by fellow activist and Georgia Informer newspaper founder Herbert Dennard to interview. WMAZ station management was so impressed by her poise, photogenic looks, and ability to articulate her points during the interview they took her to lunch and offered her the chance to host a show. Irving and the interview with Elton John landed Warren a photo with him. This was yet another example of Ward's ability to connect with people easily, says Warren. "She just had a gift at making people comfortable." Although Ward was armed with charm, she was highly focused and committed to completing tasks. She believed in hard work and was rewarded for her effort each time she was on assignment. Her closing catchphrase of "Trody Tro" could be interpreted as, "Mission accomplished. Thanks for tuning in, and we'll see you next time." But to this day, no one knows for sure what it meant. But what's said consistently by those that knew her is that she was a tenacious professional that wouldn't let go once she sank her teeth into a task. But simultaneously, Ward's demeanor was calm, steady, kind, and gracious. "She was a real advocate of working hard," said Warren. "But she treated people fairly and kindly as the epitome of the Southern Lady." Ward was a forerunner, forging her way through the male-dominated Central Georgia radio and television fields as a curious, petite, redheaded