Betty Jean Ballard

Betty Jean Ballard was an only child and never knew her father. Born December 10, 1919 her parents were divorced shortly after Betty was born and together with her mother Bess, Betty lived with her grandfather, her aunt and her uncle as an extended family until she was an adult. Betty never married and she and her mother shared an apartment until her mother passed away at age 98. Betty was nearly 75 years old before she ever lived alone. Yet she was never alone. She deeply valued friendships and she valued her many relationships at work, at church and through her professional organizations. She loved eating out with friends and she loved to travel. And in her later years she loved her dear friends at Kingswood Manor. And though Betty was an only child and never married or had children of her own, she was loved and an important part of a large extended family with four cousins, their children and spouses and their grandchildren who adopted Betty as a part of their immediate family. "Aunt Betty" loved to be at those grandchildren's birthdays, holidays and get-togethers and she savored every card, letter, photograph, phone call and visit from her extended family. Betty was the first to ask you how things were going and she was the last to finish eating at every meal. Betty never in her life finished a meal in less than an hour and it was traditional that she was still working on dessert while children were busily opening their birthday presents around her. But perhaps most of all Betty loved Jesus. Her faith was robust and her hope never waivered, even in the last years of her life as she dealt with increasingly challenging health issues. She was quick to tell you that her hope was in the Lord and she loved her church family and her pastor. Her Bible is threadbare and the pages have been turned until the ink is smudged and the paper is thin. Her daily devotional fell apart many years ago and is now just a pile of loose pages held together by a rubber band because of her reading each morning and evening. Betty lived her faith in practical ways, caring for those around her and regularly praying for the many she loved. She gave generously to her church during her lifetime, and beyond. Betty was never even slightly afraid of death, but rather embraced it as the next chapter of the great adventure of eternal life in Christ. Her passing was peaceful and filled with grace on March 29, 2011 and we are confident that she is with her Savior this afternoon as we gather in her memory. Visitation will be held from 2:00-3:00 p.m. followed by funeral service at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 2, at Mt. Moriah & Freeman Funeral Home, 10507 Holmes Road. Burial in Mt. Moriah Cemetery. Condolences may be made at www.mtmoriah-freeman.com. Arrangements under the direction of Mount Moriah & Freeman Funeral Home, Kansas City, MO.