Mary Louise Ballard

Mary Louise Ballard, age 91, passed away on Sunday, October 2, 2016. She was preceded in death by her husband, Ernest E. Ballard, Sr., and granddaughter, Katey Ballard. She is survived by a daughter, Pat Ballard Campbell (Joe) of Hoover, AL and a son, Dr. Ernest E. “Buddy” Ballard, Jr. (Shirley) of Pelham, Al, grandchildren, Jeff and Drew Campbell and Russ Ballard, who knew their grandmother as “Mimi”.

The Ballard's were married in Meridian, Mississippi on May 11, 1946, promptly after her husbands return from military duty in WWII. From 1948 the family lived in Memphis, Tennessee (White Station);, Manchester, Missouri (St. Louis); and metropolitan Birmingham (Bluff Park, Hoover, and Rocky Ridge) and was involved with church work in every city they lived. They taught Sunday School at East End Methodist Church in Meridian, they were charter members of Colonial Park Methodist Church in Memphis, She was a Sunday School teacher at the Manchester Methodist Church and Bluff Park United Methodist Church. There were numerous other church related activities they enjoyed. In their communities, Mary Louise was president of the Colonial View Garden and a member of the Shades Crest Garden Club, and Shades Crest Literary Club in Bluff Park. Mary Louise also served as president of the Ladies Auxiliary, national Association of Postal Supervisors Branch of Alabama and Birmingham.

Mrs.. Ballard became a secretary with the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in Meridian, MS in 1943 upon graduating from Meridian High School. During the subsequent years she was Executive Secretary to the Executive Director of Home Builders Association of Memphis and Home Builders Association of Tennessee. She continued her secretarial career with the United States Postal Service in St. Louis, Missouri and in Birmingham, Alabama until she retired in 1990. The family will receive friends on Thursday from 1:00 until 2:00pm at Bluff Park United Methodist Church with the memorial service starting at 2:00pm. In lieu of flowers memorials may be sent to Bluff Park United Methodist Church and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundations.