LaVerne K. Ballou, 90, Delphos, died Friday, January 17, 2020 at the Ottawa County Health Center, Minneapolis. He was born December 11, 1929 on the family farm north of Delphos to Russell Kenneth and Ruth Naomi (Smith) Ballou.
LaVerne was a 1948 graduate of Delphos High School and he attended K-State for one semester. He served in the United States Army and was stationed in Korea. He and Mary Helen Bates were united in marriage on December 31, 1953 in Glasco. LaVerne was a longtime farmer. He served as the director of the Delphos COOP and as secretary for the COOP board. LaVerne also served on the Methodist Church board and was a board member for the Delphos Museum.
He was preceded in death by his parents; sons, Larry and Gary; daughter, Nancy; son-in-law, Dwane Pudge; brother, Alvin Eugene Ballou; and sisters, Mary Maxine Apple and Dorothy Ruth Curtis.
He is survived by his wife, Mary Helen; son, Phillip (Karen) Ballou; daughters, Linda Pudge (special friend, David Hood, Judy (Brett) Weis; and grandchildren, Marc, Matthew, and John Gawith, Michael, Thomas, Heidi, and Lyndsi Pudge, and Shane Miller; and numerous great-grandchildren who knew him as Big Papa.
Funeral services will be at 2:00 P.M., Wednesday, January 22 at Words of Light Fellowship, Delphos. Burial will be in Bethel Cemetery. Visitation will be from 5:00 P.M. to 7:00 P.M. Tuesday at Wilson Family Funeral Home, Minneapolis. Memorials may be made to the Delphos Museum or Words of Light Fellowship Church.