Ashby Ward, a cornerstone of Grand Strand tourism for three decades, was found dead in his home Monday morning. He was 66.

Ward was president and chief executive of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, a post he had held since 1974.

Ward usually was the first person in the office every morning, so employees were worried when he didn't show up for work Monday, chamber spokesman Stephen Greene said.

Ward's niece Debra Herrmann of Surfside Beach found her uncle's body at about 9 a.m. in the den of his home on 13th Avenue North. His wife, Ann, was out of town, Herrmann said.

"It appeared he had laid his head back to take a little catnap," Herrmann said.

Horry County Coroner Robert Edge said Ward, dressed in casual clothes and sitting in an easy chair, appeared to have died Sunday night, possibly from a heart attack.

"Apparently, he had been watching TV," Edge said. "The TV was on."

No autopsy is scheduled, Edge said.

Ward was alone all weekend while his wife, Ann, daughter Liz Reyher of Surfside Beach and Reyher's two young children visited the Wards' eldest daughter, Judy Califano, and her family in Florida for spring break, Herrmann said.

Herrmann and a handful of family and friends spent Monday at the Wards' home. The family members in Florida were expected to arrive today to begin funeral preparations. The Wards' son, Paul, was expected to return home from a business trip, Herrmann said.

Goldfinch Funeral Home in Murrells Inlet is handling the arrangements.

News of Ward's death spread quickly through the Grand Strand and across the state. Ward's death shocked those who had worked with him closely through the years and those who knew him casually.

"The news is so shattering," said Gerrita Postlewait, superintendent of Horry County Schools. "It's a deep and tragic loss for his family and for our whole area."

Gov. Mark Sanford said Ward's loss will be enormously felt.

"We've lost a true leader and a tireless advocate for our state's economic interests," Sanford said.

Sanford learned about Ward's death from Chad Prosser, director of S.C. Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism, while the two were at the Heritage golf tournament on Hilton Head Island.

At Hot Stacks Pancake House on Kings Highway in Myrtle Beach, the staff recalled that Ward, who regularly ate lunch there, always ordered sweet tea with extra lemon.

"It's like I lost my own father," said Steve Politis, owner of Hot Stacks. "I saw him every day for 12 years. All the customers here are sick. That's all they talk about."

Ward grew up in Lake City with Surfside Beach Mayor Roy Hyman.

"We played baseball together in every open field we could find in Lake City," Hyman said.

"At a young age, he was what you call a natural leader," Hyman said.

Ward moved to Myrtle Beach in 1974 to run the chamber, and Hyman followed in 1977 to open a hardware store. The two men and their families have lived around the corner from each other in Surfside Beach for 25 years.

"He's one of these guys that doesn't come along very often," Hyman said.

Before Ward took his post in Myrtle Beach, he spent a decade in television in Florence, Charleston and Columbia. Baby boomers who grew up on the Grand Strand remember Ward as host of "Captain Ashby's Playhouse," a popular cartoon program.

Horry County Councilman Marion Foxworth is one of those people.

"I could never hear a chamber update without expecting to hear a Bugs Bunny cartoon to follow it," Foxworth said. "To me, he'll always be 'Captain Ashby.'"

As spring-breakers crowded Ocean Boulevard on a sunny Monday, many business people who knew Ward credited him with turning a sleepy beach town into a tourist haven for millions from the Carolinas, Midwest and Canada.

"It will take Myrtle Beach a long time to really understand the depth of what Ashby did for us," said hotelier Jim Creel. "It's going to take a very dedicated effort to find a way to get around this loss."

Reporters Kathleen Vereen Dayton, Zane Wilson and Natalie Burrowes Pruitt contributed to this report.

Contact KEVIN WIATROWSKI at 626-0305 or kwiatrowski@thesunnews.com.