Sorry I got mixed up, Ward is alive and well - last checked he was now a fire fighter in Chicago.
Dan Langlois was the one who passed. Ward took over the Gilligan's design during his illness. Dan had some crazy fun designs working for Bally from the mid 80's - Escape From Lost World, Radical, Strange Science. All these games had good innovations also. Really liked how they screened the underside of the playfield glass in Escape. Real neon for the topper in Strange. Utilising the space to fill it with ramps in Radical.

Whilst heading for the acquisition by Williams in 88', Bally did have some interesting concepts during this time - just a shame about the 6803 sound board quality.