3447934322.jpg &&& LAKE WORTH — Earlier this year, Sharon Lemons started a blog to chronicle her father’s life with prostate cancer.By the time Vernon Stuard died Sunday at age 73, she had produced a heartfelt record of how he handled the aggressive disease with dignity and optimism, at times proving more resilient than many had expected."I think everyone has given up estimating when this will be over because it seems to only give Daddy another hurdle to overcome," Sharon Lemons wrote on vernsroad.blogspot.com on Saturday.Mr. Stuard was born Sept. 6, 1934, to Martin and Ella Stuard in the small town of Tye outside of Abilene. The family later moved to Caddo. Mr. Stuard graduated from Breckenridge High School in 1952 and spent the next three years in the Navy, including service as a Seabee and on the destroyer USS Haynsworth.In 1955, he met Sherry Boone. They married, and in 1964, the couple settled in Lake Worth.Mr. Stuard worked for more than 40 years at Lockheed Martin as a general machinist. Part of that time, he worked alongside his son, a numerical control programmer."He was probably the best machinist I ever worked with, and I’d say that even if he wasn’t my dad," Gary Stuard said.Soon after he retired, Mr. Stuard and his wife took a trip to Minnesota for an event organized by the USS Haynsworth Reunion Association. He later became president of the group and traveled around the country to its events, building a network of friends linked by their shared experience."Those people welcomed us like we were part of a family, and we’ve been part of that family ever since," Sherry Stuard said.Other survivors include son Roger Stuard of White Settlement; a brother, Ernest Stuard of Burleson; and a sister, Dorothy Bradford of Azle. Mr. Stuard’s funeral was Wednesday. Memorial donations may be made to Universal Health Service, 1208 Country Club Lane, Fort Worth, TX 76112.