Patricia Ann "Grandma Pat" Ballard

Patricia Ann “Grandma Pat” (Hale) Ballard passed away Sunday, February 15, 2015 at Hays Medical Center in Hays, Kansas at the age of 89. She was born on February 1, 1926 in her home in Osborne County near Paradise, Kansas to Thomas Filer and Nettie (Gregory) Hale. Pat graduated as Salutatorian from Alton High School with the Class of 1943 and actually began school at the age of four because she walked with her sisters and refused to go home. On February 24, 1946 she married Robert A. Ballard in Woodston, Kansas. They were blessed with three children, Robert, Pamela, and Rebecca. While Pat loved being a wife, mother, and homemaker, she also worked as a waitress at the Midway Caf? in Stockton and as a retail sales clerk at Ben Franklin. Pat was a member of Main Street Christian Church in Stockton and had several hobbies, including hand quilting which she did for everyone in the family, as well as quilting hundreds of quilts for others. She also enjoyed working puzzles, especially crosswords, and reading, no less than one book a day. But the most important things in her life were her family and the many children whose lives she touched. She always looked forward to the bi-annual Hale Family Reunions, and spending time with the people she loved most. As a “Foster Grandparent” for the schools, Pat was known as Grandma Pat to all of the children from preschool to Kindergarten and numbers continued to grow as past students and their siblings continued to call her that. She worked as a school cross walk guard and blocked traffic for all of the kids as they came by sharing hugs with her every day. Known as a lady who loved her hats, she was especially proud of the hat that was handmade for her by the Kindergarten class with each child contributing something personal and special to its design. Pat is survived by her children Robert A. Ballard and wife Mary of Concordia, Pamela Heller and husband Ron of Phillipsburg, Rebecca Staley and husband Dan of Beloit, and Lannie Ellison a young man she considered her son for over forty years and wife Kim of Miami, AZ; brother Tim Hale of Pittsburg; sisters Peggy Palmer of Salem, AR, and Betty Fenton of Hutchinson; sister-in-law Marge Ballard of Alton; eight grandchildren, Tony and Diana Staley, Randy and Lori Ballard, Brian Post, Sonja and Andy Barton, Derek Post, Josh and Katie Ballard, Robyn Barnett, and Troy and Suzanne Heller; and twenty-three great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents Thomas and Nettie Hale, husband Robert A. Ballard, sisters Frances Brent and Carrie Fry, and grandson Terry Post. Grandma Pat epitomized the calling of Jesus who said, “Let the children come to me and do not forbid them, for the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these.” Her warm sense of humor, glowing smile, and loving arms always ready to hug have encouraged and lifted the hearts and lives of countless hundreds of children and adults alike. The legacy of her love will live for generations to come in each and every person who knew her. Reception: Main Street Christian Church