Donnell Ardell Ballard
After joyously celebrating his 97th birthday, Don Ballard passed away peacefully three days later on May 18, 2024, in Austin, Texas. Donnell Ardell Ballard was born on May 15, 1927, near Dale, Texas, to Charlie Alva Ballard and Hallie Lackey Ballard. Don spent most of his childhood in Mathis, Texas, where he was raised by his aunt and uncle, Mary Lackey Murphy and Walter Murphy.
Don graduated from Mathis High School one year early, in 1943. He then enrolled at Texas A&M University, two weeks after his 16th birthday.
Don’s studies were interrupted by military service. He joined the United States Army in 1945. Don is fond of saying that the end of the Second World War had little to do with the atomic bomb; instead, when Japanese spies learned that Don Ballard was on the way, they knew they had no chance! He trained at Fort Eustis, Virginia, where he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant on July 19, 1946.
While he was at Fort Eustis, he met Mary Frances Brown of Detroit, who was then a student at Sweet Briar College, Virginia.
Don returned to Texas A&M in the fall of 1947. He completed his B.S. in Chemistry in 1949, having received financial assistance from the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act (the “GI Bill”).
Don and Mary Fran were married on August 31, 1950, in Detroit. They lived in Ypsilanti and Dearborn, Michigan, before returning to Texas A&M in 1951. Don worked on his Master’s Degree in Chemistry, which he completed in 1953, and Mary Fran worked in the library.
Don was hired by Dow Chemical Company in 1952. He worked at the Dow facility in Freeport, Texas, and he and Mary Fran lived in the nearby town of Lake Jackson. Don and Mary Fran welcomed Anne Edmonds Ballard in 1953, and Charles Lincoln Ballard in 1954. In Lake Jackson, Don was active in the Boy Scouts, and with St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church.
Don left Dow in 1968, and went to work for Arco Chemical, where he worked until 1987. Don and Mary Fran moved several times with Arco, settling finally in Wayne, PA., for 33 years. For many of those years, they were very active with the Democratic Party of Delaware County, Pennsylvania. They spent their last years in assisted-living facilities in Austin.
Don was an avid traveler. The family took vacation trips by car across much of the United States in the 1950s and 1960s, and a trip to Europe in 1968. After the children moved on, Don and Mary Fran traveled often to Michigan, Vermont, Virginia, and Texas, and to the Isle of Arran in Scotland. Don’s business travels took him to Europe, South America, and Asia on many occasions.
Don was a great storyteller. He loved to tell of the “real-life adventures” that he collected on his travels. He loved to regale his listeners with stories from his army days, and with reminiscences from Mathis, College Station, Philadelphia, New York, Singapore, Chennai, Paris, and Rome. Don was introduced to opera when he was in the army, and he became a lifelong fan. He attended operas in person in Houston, New York, Philadelphia, Milan, and Paris, and listened often to recordings.
Don Ballard loved his family and his many, many friends. He was truly a remarkable and caring man, and we were privileged to have known and loved him.
Don will be interred at Bunton Cemetery in Caldwell County, Texas, on June 15, 2024. He was preceded in death by Mary Fran, his wife of 71 years, and by his siblings, Elloise M. Ballard Adams and Neal K. Ballard. He is survived by his children, Anne Ballard Spacht (Mark Spacht) of Austin, and Charley Ballard (June Youatt) of East Lansing, Michigan, grandsons Scott Woodward of Austin and Andrew Ballard of Tallahassee, Florida, sister-in-law Diane Drake Brown of Perkasie, Pennsylvania, and many nieces, nephews, and cousins.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Don’s beloved Texas A&M University. The family would like to thank the extraordinary staff of Live Oak Assisted Living Home in Austin, particularly Don’s caregivers Adam and Kim, and the amazing folks at Enhabit Hospice Care, especially Brandon Erickson, who gave Don only love and respect during the last 18 months of his long and remarkable life.
