Mary Helen Bates Ballou
https://www.wilsonfamilyfuneralhome.com/obituary/mary-helen-ballou
April 12, 1933 - March 22, 2023
Mary Helen Bates Ballou passed away Wednesday, March 22, 2023, at the Nicol Home in Glasco. Mary was born April 12, 1933, to Herman and Ethel Carlson Bates at rural Glasco.
Mary attended Bethel country school and then graduated from Glasco High School in 1950. She attended Kansas State University and graduated in May of 1954 with a degree in home economics.
Mary was married to LaVerne Kenneth Ballou on December 31, 1953, and to this union were born six children: Nancy Kaye, Phillip Wayne, Linda Marie, Larry Kenneth, Gary Dean, and Judy Diane.
Mary’s relationship with Jesus was foremost in her life, followed by her husband and family.
She was a loving, caring mother and wife who was always on the go. Some of her many side hustles over the years were clothing judge at various county fairs, farm truck driver and caterer, Cub Scout den mother, 4-H leader, seamstress deluxe, Sunday school teacher, United Methodist Women, Ruth Circle, lapidarist, Tupperware consultant, Delphos Museum curator, Wellness Center employee, Federal Grand jurist, auction assistant, grandmother and great-grandmother (Sweet Mama). I’m sure there were others that we couldn’t think of!
Mary was preceded in death by her parents, her husband LaVerne in 2020; her children, Nancy in 1958, Gary in 1961, and Larry in 2004; brothers-in-law, Alvin Ballou and Warren Curtis; and sisters-in-law, Dorothy Curtis and Maxine Apple.
She is survived by her brother Gregory and wife Jeannie Bates of South Dakota; her sister-in-law Barbara Ballou of Bonner Springs; her children Phil and wife Karen Ballou of Minneapolis, Linda, and husband David Hood of Miltonvale, and Judy and husband Brett Weis of Salina. She is also survived by grandchildren Marc, Matthew, and John Gawith, Michael, Tom, Heidi, and Lyndsi Pudge, Justin Hood, and Nathan and Shane Miller and 14 great-grandchildren; plus numerous nieces, and nephews.
Mary donated her body to the University of Kansas Medical Center. Memorial services will be Friday, March 31 at 11:00 a.m. at Words of Light Fellowship in Delphos, with a lunch following. There will be a private graveside in Bethel Cemetery at a later date.
Memorials can be made to the Words of Light Fellowship in Delphos, the Delphos Museum, or the Nicol Home in Glasco and may be left in care of Wilson Family Funeral Home, P.O. Box 166, Minneapolis, KS 67467.
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